Heels
by Ashi-Grey
Summary: There are many different evils. One of them is my Great Uncle although he should be dead , another being my Gran and my Dad. Thing is, they're all fighting each other to the death, and now I'm trapped in the middle - next gen - James II/O
1. Character List

So, I thought I'd do a character list, in case anyone gets confused. I'll update it as I go along, so hopefully you'll all know who's who and what's what!

N/B: don't read this until you're confused with who's who and what's what, because otherwise you'll spoil the story!

**Daniela Locket:** Main character. Called Dannie or Dan by all her friends. Called Ella by her family. In her sixth year of Hogwarts, Gryffindor. Has a bit of a beauty complex, and looking good to her is everything. She's been best friends with Olivia Cardew since her train ride in first year, and along with Kikiera Angelou, they are Hogwart's perfect girls. Every guy wants them, and they play it to their advantage. Dannie's best subject is potions, followed by transfiguration. She's in the top set for everything and plays seeker on the Gryffindor quidditch team.

She runs every morning, and makes Liv and Kiki do the same in order to stay beautiful. She has an hour long skin regime every night, and her hair has a permanent colour change charm on it. She has a slim, tall, elegant figure that she pulls off perfectly.

She always wears heels, because they represent everything that Dannie wants to be: elegant, sophisticated and beautiful. It's also about not being the person her mother was, the person her father wants her to be and the things she hates.

However, her mother has a condition which will eventually kill her. Her father is violent, and abused her. She ran away from home in her fourth year, and used some of the money her grandparents left her to buy herself a massive house in Cornwall, in the same village as Liv, where she lives. She left her younger sister, Emma, with her dad when she ran away, something which she regrets.

Along with her best friends, she plans to open a 'fairy godmother' business after enjoying giving Rose Weasley a make-over when she's teased by Scorpius Malfoy. She plans to own a premises in Diagon Alley that offers hair, skin, body, wardrobe and character 'clean ups', as well as selling beauty potions that she's brewed, beauty herbs that Liv's grown and Kiki telling the patient's future.

She's always hated James Potter for his ignorant ways, general big headed-ness, perfect family life and his all-round 'Potter-ness', so finds herself slightly flummoxed when he is suddenly very understanding after the 'Bogart incident', and offers to help her find her family, mainly her sister, again.

She has a good sense of humour, and enjoys pulling pranks with Kiki and Liv. However, unlike the 'Idiot Group' (James Potter, Fred Weasley and Mat Higgins), the girls usually get away with their wrong doings, other than back talking to teachers, which Dannie credits to her 'verbal diarrhoea' problem.

Picture of Dannie: .

**Olivia Cardew: **Best friend of Daniela Locket, and has been since first year. Now in her sixth year, Gryffindor, along with Dannie and Kiki, her other best friend. Good at Herbology and great at listening, Liv has been through thick and thin with her friends, and would do it all again. She goes through life with a 'live for today' attitude, and prides herself in the fact that she's slept with every 'eligible' boy in Hogwarts, much to her friend's dismay and amusement. Her mother works in Madam Malkin's and her father is a muggle school teacher.

Has a crush on Mat Higgins

She's the one who ends up in messes with Dannie when Dannie's plans go awry, as Kiki seems to have this amazing ability to get out of sticky situations.

A 'good time' girl and a close friend. She's not as bright as Dannie and Kiki, but with help from her friends she still gets good marks.

She has a curvy, feminine figure, and pulls off the blond hair, blue eyes, Barbie doll look effortlessly, although she's the one of the group who gives in to cravings easiest and puts on weight fastest. Dannie, however, simply makes sure she either runs more or eats less.

Picture of Liv: .com/images/editorial/2006_online/10_slideshows/02_beauty_hairtop5

**Kikiera Angelou: **The last member of Hogwart's perfect girls, Kiki is an African pureblood princess, and is pretty much destined to have an arranged marriage to some random prince of who-knows-where. She takes it all in her stride though, and it doesn't stop her throwing a good party just for the hell of it. Kiki's grandmother is a famous Voodoo Seer, and she's inherited some of the seer abilities, meaning her favourite subject is Divination, much to Liv and Dannie's horror. She's also good at charms, which comes in useful when Liv is struggling.

Kiki's older brother was head boy, so her family expects a lot of her, and her whole family has been in Ravenclaw, so Kiki broke that tradition, not that it bothered her.

Kiki tends to mother the other two a little, which is often the cause of the 'first day train ride argument' that the girls seem to have every year, though they're always best friends again by the time they get to Hogwarts.

She's pretty perceptive, and often spots things that the other two don't, or simply gets to the answer faster. She's good with people though, and always knows what to do or say to make people feel better.

She has the emergency chocolate rations for the group stored in her trunk for rainy days, as she is the only one of the three with enough self restraint not to eat it all in one go, effectively ruining their diets.

She's taller than the other two, and is self conscious of this, but generally she's outgoing, and not easily fazed. She's got the best record out of the three, due to her ability to sweet talk anything and anyone, including Minerva McGonagall.

Picture of Kiki: .com/images/pt_

**James Potter: **Has a perfect home life, gets top in everything (apart from Herbology, which he's useless at) and is adored by his fan club for everything and anything. As most of the teachers know his dad personally, and everyone knows of his dad, he gets out of almost everything, so has a massive ego.

Best friends with his cousin, Fred Weasley, and muggle-born Mat Higgins. These three call themselves the 'Marauders', after Harry's granddad, but the girls call them the 'Idiot Group'.

He dates a new girl every week, and is a chaser on the Gryffindor quidditch team, meaning he has broken more hearts than anyone can count and hot quidditch muscles to boot.

He's always playing pranks, but unlike the girls, who rely on skill, he simply relies on the 'parent factor' to get him out of trouble.

However, he does have a well hidden 'soft side', but for the sakes of his reputation, that side is kept well and truly under the wraps.

His family mean everything to him, and he couldn't imagine living without them, but he often puts his foot in it, of forgets someone due to 'the girl of the week' or quidditch, resulting in family arguments.

He's best at transfiguration and DADA, priding himself in his ability to take anyone in the castle and whip their ass at a duel. However, Herbology and James in the same sentence without the word 'no' in between is a recipe for disaster, as James just ploughs in and doesn't think about consequences, usually leaving him with some nasty injury.

He's great at chess, something his Uncle Ron taught him, but if someone once figured out his tactics, he's easily beaten, just like at everything else he does. Mostly it's all just a false wall he puts up to keep his reputation in shape.

He's always hated and admired Dannie for her ability to do just about everything. She's effortlessly beautiful, brilliant at quidditch, has a perfect figure, can shut just about any male up with a wink and can run in heels better than anyone he's ever met. He hates her for her 'Malfoy-ish cool' and her inability to get ruffled. He hates how she's so much better at pranking than he is, how she gets away with murder, and how she's brilliant at potions. He hates how she's made his cousin Rose feel so rubbish about herself all these years, and how she seems unaware of all the males who lust after her.

He hates how she's broken so many hearts and walks away without a scratch

He hates how much she's like him

Picture of James: ./_pKos-WpFP7E/SLSG_gfKx1I/AAAAAAAAAgc/p86XhYaRrY0/s400/twilight+.jpg

**Fred Weasley: **Fred Weasley is usually both the mastermind and the supplier of all things to do with pranks. Him and James have been best buds since birth, much to the amusement of their parents. He's got a reputation for being a little sadistic, simply because of the pranks he's pulled on Slytherins, mainly Scorpius Malfoy.

He's got a fan club, just like James, but isn't as much of a womanizer, concentrating more on pranks than girls. He's always got a date to a party though, and is often a fan of broom cupboards, much to the disgust of James, who says 'room of requirement every time'. This has led most of the castle to believe Fred is worse than James, but that's not true. Fred just gets caught more often.

He's got the bright orange Weasley hair, just like the rest of his family

He's very close to his dad, but argues often with his mum, Angela

He plays beater on the Gryffindor quidditch team

Picture of Fred: ./117/314818617_6fcb52526e_

**Mat Higgins: **seen as the nice one of the Marauders, Mat usually stays out of the pranking. He's a prefect, and always has his work in on time, no matter what. He's the smart one of the bunch, and pretty perceptive, though he often doesn't voice his thoughts.

Mat is the one who bails his friends out when they mess up big time, and for that they are eternally grateful.

He's fancied Liv for almost two years, but hasn't done anything about it as she's the beautiful blond, and he's just Mat.

Keeper of the Gryffindor quidditch team, and is apparently the best one ever to walk Hogwart's coridoors. Still, he's embarrassed of his talent, and doesn't boast

He's a muggle born, his father works for a big cosmetics company, his mother stays at home to look after his disabled younger sister, Annabelle.

First got to be friends with James and Fred when they all got sorted into Gryffindor, and James and Fred decided to dare each other. They invited Mat to join in, and in the end, Mat won the dare, and the respect of the other two. Since that day the three of them have been inseparable.

Picture of Mat: ./_BiX6nXwXlb8/SoQzGpxpRZI/AAAAAAAAAUA/y9-i_

**Rose Weasley: **cold, shy, top at everything, she's been knick-names the Ice Queen. She's picked on relentlessly for her slightly round figure, her frizzy hair and her blush, mainly by Scorpius Malfoy.

She's always tried to live up to her mother's expectations, and she does get good grades, but usually comes second or third to either Dannie, Liv or Kiki, making her hate them even more.

She's in a dorm with those three, and has hated them from day one, when Liv asked her if she was going to brush her hair, after she had already done so. Even though it was an accident that Liv had apologised for later, Rose couldn't bring herself to forgive the three.

Until she comes into her dorm, crying, and Dannie helps her. She tells Dannie how Scorpius had been horrible to her, and how she doesn't want to be the fat, frizzy haired know it all that she is at the moment. Dannie agrees to give her a make-over.

After the 'plastics' as she calls them, helped her to become more beautiful both inside and out, she feels guilty about all the times she's been rude to them for no reason, and she begins to see that there is a deeper reason to look beautiful than just being plastic.

She hates quidditch more than anything, and sees the sport as ridiculously over-rated.

She's best at Runes and Arithmacy, though she feels they're useless subjects.

Picture of Rose: .com/image/long,%20straight%20red%

**Emma Locket: **Dannie's little sister. Adorable, loved and abandoned by Dannie. Dannie regrets leaving Emma and wants to find her again, but struggles as her dad has hidden her well. Emma is one of those perceptive but innocent children, who seem to pick up too much and too little all at the same time. Emma has curly blond hair and big blue eyes. She is very trusting despite all she's been through, and loves easily.

She's a delightful child, but cries often, caused by years of stress that someone so young should not have to endure.

She'll have just started her first year of senior school when Dannie is in her sixth year, making her eight when Dannie last saw her, and when she ran away from home.

Picture of Emma as Dannie remembers her: .com/huge.2.

**Mrs Locket:** suffers from a condition which causes her to lose her mind slowly, over a series of attacks which starve her brain of oxygen. She hates this, and tries in vain to carry on with her usual life. However her body is too damaged to do even simple things such as cleaning a kitchen table without hurting significantly.

It was pretty hard to find a picture of Mrs Locket, but this one is the closest I can find. Mrs Locket is actually fatter than this, her skin is more wrinkled and her hair lighter.

.

**Mr Locket**: Struggles to come to term with his wife's illness. He abuses his daughter, Dannie, and blames her for everything that's ever gone wrong. He has a bad temper, and little patience. Often, though his intentions are good at the start, he ends up hurting his wife, and other daughter Emma, who he believes has been led astray by Dannie.

He is the only person Dannie is truly scared of

Picture of Mr Locket: .com/slike/slike_

**Katie**: Dorm mates with Rose Weasley, Dannie, Kiki and Liv. Best friends with Polly, who also rooms with her. Keeps to herself most of the time, joined at the hip to Polly.

Picture of Katie: .com/photo/10/98/84/10988495_

**Polly**: Dorm mates with Rose, Dannie, Kiki, Liv and Katie, her best friend. Katie and Polly are unseperable, and generally keep to themselves, not talking to the other girls.

Picture of Polly: .tv/photos/2009/04/14/spod.

**DADA Professor**: A lot like Gilderoy Lockhart. Can't take a joke, hates Dannie and her girls because of this. Very pompous, vain. Hated by Dannie and pretty much anyone he teaches. Believes he cracked Riddle's curse on the job, but everyone knows he didn't. Very short; Kiki towers over him

Picture of DADA Professor: .net/time/daily/2008/0803/cklein_

**Slughorn**: Loves Dannie as she is 'the best potion brewer since Snape'. Has to drink a potion to keep himself alive, something that his students hate because he makes a horrible slurping noise. Still the jolly, happy professor that he always was.

Picture of Horace Slughorn: .com/gallery/albums/userpics/84186/normal_

**McGonagall**: Is headmistress of Hogwarts. Has a hard time controlling James, Fred, Mat, Dannie, Kiki and Liv all at the same time, as they all break rules left right and centre. Always says 'nitwit, oddment, blubber, tweak!' at the end of each welcoming feast to honour Dumbledore. Doesn't teach anymore. Decided to put NEWT students into sets as opposed to by house as it should make them achieve higher grades.

**Lucy**: First year who can play chess amazingly well. Very good at tactics. Muggle born and has little self confidence. Doesn't think she's very good at magic, and she doesn't have many friends. Dannie makes friends with her and they play chess together, Lucy beating Dannie easily. Lucy then plays James and is impressed when he beats her. Lucy is treated by both Dannie and James as a little sister, and they both decided to do all they can to protect her.

She's just been accepted onto the quidditch team as the last chaser, along with James and Mark. Similar to chess, she's good with tactics, but not as experienced or stable on her broom as the rest of her team mates.

Picture of Lucy: .

**Scorpius Malfoy**: Slytherin, cool, cold, good grades, chaser on Slytherin team, teases just about everyone. It's all due to his dad, but either way, he's a nasty piece of work.

He hates Rose Weasley, because she seems to be just as calm, cool and pompous as he is, and she's a Weasley. At first it was just past prejudice, but now he simply hates her for being what he is. He teases her ruthlessly, preferring to take the detentions that to leave her be.

Very surprised when he sees Rose after Dannie's make-over.

Picture of Scorpius: ..com/images/yahoo/hollywood/jessemccartney/1004_jesse_mccartney_

**Professor Longbottom**: Neville teaches Herbology at Hogwarts and is head of Gryffindor house. He's toughened up a bit, but is still the big softy that he always was. Married to Luna, and tends to get shouted at by her from time to time, the cause of much amusement in the castle.

Has one daughter in Slytherin, and one son in Ravenclaw: Solar Longbottom (Sunny) and Christi Longbottom

Liv is his favourite student, closely followed by his Goddaughter, Rose Weasley.

Picture of Neville: .com/movies/photos/h/harry_potter_half_blood_prince_cast_071114/matthew_

**Madam Longbottom**: Luna married Neville, and she works in the hospital wing, along with the ancient Madam Pomfrey, who if truth be told, doesn't do much anymore. She's still the same old girl, but the war changed her, like it changed her husband, and she's better with responsibility now. She often shouts at Neville when he goes too 'soft' on students who misbehave.

Sunny, her daughter, is in Slytherin, and Christi, her son, is in Ravenclaw.

Picture of Luna: ./media/images/41911000/jpg/_41911798_pic_

**Sunny Longbottom**: Daughter of Luna and Neville, she's close friends with Albus Potter, who is in Slytherin with her. She's a good laugh, but don't get on her bad side. She's the black sheep of her overly nice family, but that doesn't make her any less loved. She's charismatic and well known, but she only has a handful of close friends, namely Albus Potter and Iris Zabini, who are both in her year.

Picture of Sunny: .

**Christi Longbottom**: Ravenclaw, in Lily Potter's year. He's a bookworm and the complete opposite to Sunny, who is outgoing, outspoken and full of character. Christi is one of those people who just needs to grow into himself, and little like his dad did.

Picture of Christi: .

**Mark Zabini**: In Gryffindor, seventh year, captian of the Gryffindor quidditch team. Calm, friendly and good with people. He's not taking his captianacy to the ridiculous levels that Wood took it to the year before, but quidditch is still the most important thing in his life.

His younger sister, Iris, is in Slytherin, where the rest of his family was.

Picture of Mark: .com/user_images/C/CA/CAS/casualstupidity/1158695302_

**Iris Zabini**: In Slytherin with Sunny Longbottom and Albus Potter. The three are best friends, and are your typical Slytherins. All of them are cunning and good with schemes. The three of them are usually the first people to notice when something's not right, and they cause the teachers a lot of headaches with their knowledge of things they shouldn't know about.

Picture of Iris: .com/u/500480_

**Albus Potter: **In Slytherin with Sunny Longbottom and Iris Zabini. Very much the black sheep of his family. Tends to be a bit sharp with people, and often feels like an outcast because all of his family is in Gryffindor. He pretty much keeps to just Sunny and Iris. Hates Danni and her 'Plastics', and resents that Dannie has given Rose a make-over

**Lily Potter: **The 'not to be messed with' Potter who is respected by everyone. She's always got her family's best interests at heart, and is pretty good at confusing Dannie. She knows her family better than anyone else and often predicts things that might happen before anyone else realises

**Koff: **Disgusting new caretaker from Durmstrang, taking over from Filch. Mrs Norris is a ghost, and he hates her. He isn't human, but we don't know what he is yet. He assaulted and abused Dannie before James could come in and play hero. He bit Dannie, but he's not a vampire. James put a full body bind on him and left him until he, his dad and his uncle Ron went back later and took him to McG's office.

**Harry Potter: **If you don't know who he is, you're reading the wrong type of fan-fiction

**Ron Weasley: ** I know everyone knows who he is, but I thought I'd just explain his inappropriate comment about Dannie to James. Ron acts a little like Sirius did for Harry, and James goes to his uncle about girl trouble way before he goes to his parents. The adults all find this pretty funny considering how bad Ron dealt with Lavender and Hermione. All the same, Ron knows all about James's womanizing ways, and jokes about them, hence the 'got lucky' comment.

**Hermione Weasley: **Yes, you know who she is... she's a good mum to Rose and Hugo, but she worries about Rose's lack of friends, so she has mixed feelings about the make-over. Initially she's sad that her baby is growing up, but at the same time she's very grateful to Dannie for being there for Rose.

**Ginny Potter: **Less protective over her kids than Hermione, but has the opposite troubles to Hermione. Where Hermione struggles to get Rose to socialise, Ginny is often running around to the Prophet to stop them printing yet another photo of James at a party, either with yet another girl or doing something stupid whilst drunk. She's heard all about Dannie, simply because her son won't stop complaining about her. Ginny is impressed with Dannie when she meets her, and begins to wonder if there is another reason why James talked about her all the time.


	2. SHUT UP!

_Okay, so this is my first fan fick...bla bla...don't be mean...waffle waffle. The general._

_Also, *insert witty comment about not being J K* I'm not, in fact, J K. _

_Woo for me..._

_But anyway. I'd love it if you would review, simply because any thought and comments help me write better! _

_I mostly write for fun, so if this reads as if I've written it while watching the TV, that's because I have._

_Enjoy!_

The train ride had been, as much as it can ever be, normal. I'd locked up the house, leaving Mr and Mrs Potts to take care of it, packed all my stuff in my trunk and set off for the local train station.

Once there, I'd said bye to Jo, my best at home friend, I'd boarded the train, getting funny looks for my old fashioned trunk, and settled back to watch the countryside go from Cornwall's peaceful, rugged, wild beaches, to London's manicured, perfect office blocks and high rise apartments.

The train I had always taken, ever since I was eleven, was the Night Train, meaning you got a little, tiny compartment, with a bed, sink, mirror and tiny desk thing. It was nice though, and I wasn't about to complain. I settled down, pulling out my home made pumpkin pasties (there was a reason I paid the Potts to work at my house after all) and eating them happily.

I looked over my new text books again, simply for something to do, and bought myself a hot chocolate from the front of the train, before settling down and drifting off to sleep.

I always woke up early on September 1st, and being on a train was no exception, meaning I was well awake before the sun even rose, watching streetlamp-lit roads and starry skies with my nose pressed elegantly up to the glass, creating the much sought after 'I've just been run over by a hippogriff on a unicycle' look.

We pulled into King's Cross Station at about eight o'clock, and I bounced off the train, chugging my trunk behind me, and trotted round the few shops at the station, buying the little things I usually needed to stock up on.

Since I've moved out of Mum and Dad's place, and Gran and Granddad gave me my inheritance from them early (they gave me the money that Mum and Dad should have gotten, but they said my parents weren't worthy of it) and I'd bought my house in Cornwall with some of it, I'd finally had the freedom to do what I wanted to do.

In the end, when I simply couldn't find anything good enough for my two best friends, I ended up leaving the station, walking around muggle London, my too full credit card burning my pocket. I hit Oxford Street in the end.

Urban Outfitters has always been one of my favourite shops, and today was no exception. Besides which, I needed three new pairs of jeans, four new polo shirts, two new dresses, a new stripy shirt, those super cool new heels which (If I was lucky) I might just get away with as school shoes. Oh, and those two new necklaces, a new bag and a few new bangles.

Okay, so I didn't. But I would've regretted not buying them later. Probably.

Feeling rather guilty as I walked out of that shop, I wandered into Selfridges, dead set on finding something for my friends.

I walked out with a bag full of makeup and ten jars of Marshmallow Fluff.

Well, I had had the makeup made especially for my skin first, then (seeing as it was September 1st, which is first day of school, so I could use magic, right?) I changed my skin to look like Liv's, and had her makeup made, and then as Kiki, and had her's made.

It was all good fun, especially when I realised I could shrink my suitcase and not bother carrying it.

Well, until I looked at my watch and saw the time. At which point shopping rather lost its appeal and I got in the first taxi I could and headed for the station.

I got through the barrier, hands full of loads of bags (come on, you didn't think I'd be in Oxford Street and only go in two shops, did you? I just couldn't be bothered to tell you about the other shops...) and struggled towards the train.

I got on, the last one, running in my new heels along the platform and doing a rather un-lady like jump into the burgundy train.

I glared at Potter, who was laughing, bent double, at me. So what? He's a guy. He doesn't have to suffer with the devil that is heels.

I walked past him, turning on what Liv and Kiki call the Dannie Charm, and stifling a giggle as I heard his guffaws dwindle off into open mouthed gaping.

Ah yes. Swishy-Swishy, kicky flick! Toss 'black cherry' hair in big curls over shoulder and wink at sexy quidditch playing seventh year as I go past.

Smirk.

Sway hips, and be forever thankful to Merlin that I can do this to guys.

Liv must have seen me as I walked down the corridor, because she ran out of our compartment and came to meet me, taking some of the bags off me and leading me to where she and Kiki had sat.

Once I got inside I put all the bags on the table, and then sorted through them, handing some to Liv, some to Kiki, and keeping some myself.

Kiki, with her African colouring, had dark toffee coloured skin, and very dark brown hair that bounces to about shoulder height in tight curls, is always up for a laugh, but doesn't have the same attitude to boys as Liv or I do. She tends to last ages in relationships, but gets her heart broken badly when they end. She's really good with silences, and is the granddaughter of some famous African Voodoo seer, meaning she loves the famous sleep subject, Divination. She's also pretty good with charms, but she's a bit of a joker, and doesn't take school very seriously.

Then there's Liv. Me and Liv were friends since the very first day, when we sat in the same carriage on the train. Kiki came past, and she was horrible to us, so we hated her. Then when she got sorted into Gryffindor, rather than her heritage: Ravenclaw, and got sent a howler from bother her parents, and her grandparents, so we made friends. We've been inseparable ever since.

Anyway, Liv's your typical, curvy but slim, blond hair, blue eyes play boy bunny. She prides herself in the fact that she's been with every single quidditch player over fifth year in the school. She breaks heart here there and everywhere and walks away with a smirk. In some ways, I feel sorry for the guys, but as Liv says, it's not as if they don't know what she's like. If they don't want to get burnt, then they shouldn't play with fire.

If it wasn't for me, Kiki and Liv would never have been friends, simply because they're too different. But over the years, Liv's gotten a bit more of a heart, and Kiki's loosened up a little. Now we're all closer than I've ever been to any family, and I can't imagine life without them. We've already decided we're gonna live together after Hogwarts, start our own business (though what, we're not sure) and generally live the good life.

Kiki's a pureblood (well, an African Princess, technically.) so she's loaded. Then there's Liv, who's a half blood. Her mum works in Madam Malkin's, and her dad is a primary school teacher. She's the absolutely average girl, on paper. But really, she's trust worthy, honest; a hell of a good laugh and the prettiest girl in Hogwarts, even though both her and Kiki say that girl is me.

And then there's me. Enough said.

We all shrieked and giggled over my purchases, and I was hugged too much for comfort when they realised I'd bought all the stuff for them

"Well, with all that inheritance to spend, you didn't expect me to just count it, did you?"

"I thought you said you didn't know how much you had?" Kiki said, not really keeping up

"Sheesh Kiki! She was joking!" Liv said "And I thought I was the blond one!"

Kiki looked a little put out, but she laughed when I told her about getting the makeup made, and how by the third time of asking for the same stuff, but looking different, the sales assistant had looked more than a little confused.

"So how was your summer, Liv?"

"Well, there was this really hot muggle, he's just moved down to Cornwall from Wales, and he plays football. And obviously, I saw Sam again, and as usual he practically begged me to marry him. Now my Mum's even siding with him! Er, Cathy's finally gotten engaged... Oh, and, embarrassment of the century, Mum's pregnant!"

Kiki gasped, but I knew all of this. I'd bought my house in Cornwall because it was only a five minute walk from Liv's place, and the beaches around it were beautiful. Plus the fact that it was the biggest, posh-est, most expensive house I could fine, with big, ornate, swirly ceilings, two libraries, a ball room and a private beach. In other words, it was like sticking two fingers up at my parent's dingy little semi-detached council house.

Thank god for grandparents, who both fully approved of my house choice, seeing as Trelain Manor is like a mini version of their house.

"So Ria is finally marrying Vince?" Kiki asked, her eyes sparkling

"Yep. Thank god. Then she can move in with him without Dad hitting the roof."

I snorted. I'd seen, first hand, Liv's dad hitting the roof.

Liv glared at me "Yes, you can snort. But it's not funny, you know."

I giggled "yes it is."

"Is not"

"Is too"

"Is not"

"Is too"

"Is not"

"Is not"

"Is too"

"Ha!" I yelled "I win! I win!"

"I lose! I lose!" Liv shouted, trying to drown me out

"I win! Win! Win!"

"Lose! Lose!"

"SHUT UP!" Kiki yelled in the end

We shut up. Because Kiki is like the mum of our little group, and both Liv and I are scared of her when she's mad.

Liv started messing with her music player (this really cool thing that plays music magically. They have the same sort of status as an I-pod does in the muggle world. In other words, like water; you can't live without one), getting it to play the music into her ears only, so Kiki wouldn't go mad again. I looked out of the window.

To anyone else, this would look like a big argument, but it happened every year. It's as if we just have to get back into the swing of our friendship. Get used to comfortable silences, different views and shouting about stupid things. If we didn't have this, we wouldn't be anywhere near as close. By the time we get to Hogwarts, we'll be closer than we were when we left for summer the year before.

Liv and I never argue over the summer; we're too similar. She's there for me when my family send me hate mail and I'm there for her when her sister insists she wears a stupid dress for the wedding. We have stupid, childish arguments that are really just a joke.

Kiki always goes to Africa for the summer, to spend it with her family. She always comes back uptight and prim and proper. Within a week though, she usually loosens up and becomes the best friend we love within a day.

It's probably something to do with spending your summer as royalty.

Possibly.

"Okay, I'm sorry." Kiki says into the silence, almost an hour later. I beam at her

"I'm sorry too, Ki."

Liv takes longer, but with both of us glaring at her, she eventually says "Okay. I'm sorry." She grumbled

Then we end up all laughing, clutching our stomachs. It's just so ironic that this happens every year. You'd have thought we'd have grown out of it by now. Clearly not.

"So, Kiki how was your summer? Get any more sexy princes after you?" Liv teased. Kiki scowled

"You have no idea how bad it is. I think I'd gonna end up with a freaking arranged marriage if I don't say yes to the next bloody prince that asks!"

"Oh come on! They can't be that bad! At least, not all of them?" I said, trying to lighten Kiki's murderous face

"Oo they can. I'd rather marry bloody Weasley than one of them."

"You'd rather marry _Weasley_ than one of them?!?" Liv asked, incredulous

Kiki nodded sadly

"Oh." I started "Well at least you have a plan B then!"

Kiki growled, then her eyes sparkled "How's Potter?"

It was my turn to growl. I've never seen eye to eye with that boy. In fact, I'd rather jump off a cliff than have anything to do with him. Unfortunately, him, Fred Weasley and Mat Higgins seemed to be everywhere we were, so avoiding them was turning out to be pretty difficult.

"Do not even start, Kikiera."

"Do not ever call me that, Daniela, you know that's what my darling brother insists on calling me."

I grimaced.

"How is your brother?" Liv asked

"Oh you know. Marrying the Tsar's daughter. Being a general prat. Stealing my Honeyduke's Finest. The norm."

We laughed. Kiki's older brother had been head boy in our first year, and both me and Liv had looked up to him greatly, in his amazing Ravenclaw genius. But then we got to be friends with Kiki, and we saw the big brother side of him. We went off him pretty fast.

We dressed carefully as the train snaked around the Great Lake, and both Liv and Kiki knew the reason behind looking good wasn't just because it got us the guys.

That's one of the reasons I love my friends.

The feast was pretty dull. As usual. The ancient headmistress, McGonagall, stood up after the sorting:

"Welcome back everyone! Firstly, no matter what your surname is," here she glared at Potter (Hahaha) and Kiki

"How many guys or girls you get," she glared at Weasley and Liv, both of who had the honour to blush

"How well you walk in heels," she glared at me, but I just smirked straight back at her. She's just jealous, after all

"How well you play quidditch" she glared at Matt, who looked away embarrassed

"Which house you're in," she glared at Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy

"How many pranks you've pulled" she glared at Idiot Group (Potter, Weasley and Higgins)

"And how many pranks you've gotten away with," she glared at Kiki, Liv and I

"You still are not allowed to prank anyone, use magic in the corridors, nor are you exempt from homework, detentions, letters being sent home and losing points."

I let out an involuntary giggle into the silent hall, making Kiki elbow me pretty hard, and all of the teachers stare at me in horror. They can send all the letters home they want. It'll make shit all difference.

"And the forbidden Forest is, ironically, forbidden."

Liv turned to me, and said in a loud, carrying, stage whisper "Witty old bugger, isn't she!"

Sniggers travelled as fast round the hall as powdered dragon claw during exam week.

"And that, thank you, Olivia, is exactly what I am on about. Detention for you, Miss Locket and Miss Angelou."

The three of us groaned, and Idiot Group sniggered

"Anyway, there had been a change in the way we are running lessons for NEWT students. We're beginning to see that teaching according to houses is not always that sensible. Up until NEWTs, however, we will still be doing this. Then we will be taking your OWL grades, and putting you into sets according to how well you perform. This way you should all perform better."

Liv rolled her eyes, and whispered to us "Dad says sets cause more problems than they solve. People in the top sets just get really cocky, and people in the bottom sets get picked on."

"There will be no complaints, bullying or big headedness over this. Nitwit, oddment, blubber, tweak!"

The first years all looked a little confused, but the rest of us knew this was simply a ritual that was performed every year to honour Albus Dumbledore.

We all trudged off to our dorms; happily back in the one place that felt truly like home.

_So there you go!_

_Well done for reading it all, by the way. Unless of course you got bored by three lines in and decided to skip to the end. In that case, no free cookies!_

_Not that i have any free cookies._

_The next one is better... I hope. _

_Ashi xxx_


	3. Bogart

_Flippin' heck! You're actually reading my second chapter!_

_Does that mean the first one wasn't that bad?_

_Or are you just reaming out of morbid curiosity to see if it can get any worse?_

_Anyway, whatever the reason... enjoy!_

The feeling of dread swallowed me up. That single word. Bogart.

And yes, it is embarrassing.

Because who's scared of a Bogart? Who's scared of knowing what they're scared of?

Well, I'm that girl. The one who's scared of knowing what they're scared of.

I had always managed to somehow successfully avoid the matter. In fifth year I had been 'ill', so I'd missed the lesson on them.

But now, there was no escape. Everyone knew I was fine. I wouldn't be able to just dash from the house and trip trap up to see Madam L, claiming I had some wild, crazy illness, rendering me unable to take part in any form of Bogart-bashing.

The professor sneered at me. He hates me, you see. Apparently it's not my fault.

"Sit down." He snapped, narrowing his eyes at me, making the scars on the top of his eyebrow crease.

"Yes Reg." I replied, mockingly.

He snarled at me "Do you learn nothing in those detentions of yours?"

"Well, I've learnt how to wash the great hall using no magic, how to organise all of the caretaker's office without getting eaten by the rabid cat ghost, how to clean all of the Slytherin dorms without being hexed into the Jurassic ages... erm... Oh! How to organise all of the detention records, refill all of the ink wells in all of the classrooms, how to organise all of the potions store... can I get back to you if I think of anymore?"

Sometimes I suffer with a sever condition called verbal diahorrea. It is brought on by pushy, boring, snivelling (yes, he seems to have a permanent cold) DADA teachers.

Please don't misunderstand me. I love the subject, but the teacher? I'd rather be force-fed Skele-grow whilst being hung by my big toe off the top of the astronomy tower. Which would actually be pretty difficult considering that I'd have to drink it upside down.

He hissed something unintelligible at me, making me twitch a sarcastic eyebrow at him

"Sorry? I think I missed that..."

"I said, get OUT!"

"Okay, okay. I'll not watch while you unbunch your knickers. Promise." Then I saw Potter was on the bench behind me, so just to prove that I still knew _all_ his dirty little secrets, I continued "In fact, I _solemnly swear._"

Insert evil laugh here. I cannot be bothered to do it myself as I am eating home-made Sloosh. Which, for those interested is made like this:

_Sloosh:_

_Ingredients:_

_Two melted mars bars (muggle sweets) DON'T BURN THEM. They taste yucky if you do._

_Two bananas. _

_Pint of milk_

_Maple syrup_

_Toffee sauce_

_Big scoop of vanilla ice-cream_

_Cinnamon_

_Method:_

_Poor all ingredients into big mixing thing and make big mixing thing mix them_

_Then drink, smiling madly as sugar rushes straight to brain_

_Alternative ways of acquiring Sloosh:_

_Ask helpful Hogwarts house elf. Ask for Drippy: Remy is a bit heavy on the bananas, not enough sweet, artery clogging, blood pressure raising, and death inducing, hyper drug. That'd be sugar, by the way._

Well, actually, I'm not eating homemade Sloosh, or Sloosh of any form.

Having major Sloosh craving.

Where was I?

Oh yeah. I turned, just enough to see James's face paling, just a little, his big hazel eyes widening as he looked round for Fred Weasley, probably to try and prank me into silence.

The two of them, together with Mat Higgins are Hogwart's number one Idiot Group. As part of an Idiot Group, you get the right to adoring fan girls, adoring teachers, perfect home life, hundreds of friends and the rest of the Idiot Group as your very close friends. Oh, and obviously you get to be friends with the legendary James Sirius Potter.

Gag.

Anyway... Why wouldn't you want to be in the Idiot Group?

Other than their stupid little name. Marauders. How original. Everyone knows that's what James's granddaddy called his little Idiot Group.

And yet everyone still thinks it's a cool, funny, perfect name.

Hahaha. Oh dear. I appear to have split in half due to excessive laughter.

Not.

When I still refused to leave his classroom, Professor Cowardly (not his real name, unfortunately) harrumphs (like a posh elephant with something unpleasantly sharp shoved up its behind) and turns to face the rest of the class

"So! Welcome to your first lesson of Sixth year DADA! As you all know, it's NEWTs this time, not OWLs, so I will have no slackers!" (Insert glare at me here) "And I know you're all perfectly capeable of achieving excellent grades. You are, after all, in the top set for this subject."

He puffed his chest out as if it was his amazing abilities that got us in the top set. Well in that case it would also be his amazing abilities that got the bottom set in the bottom set.

He's been the professor since the GW (Great War), and is the first professor in ages to be able to hold the job for more that on year. He puts it down to his amazing abilities to banish Riddle's curse. Which is pretty amusing, if you ask me, seeing as everyone knows (mostly because he taught it us) that once a wizard is dead, any spell that takes ongoing energy and commitment to continue to work, will, obviously, stop working.

"Oi!" someone hissed down my neck. I felt the hairs on it go up in annoyance

"What?" I spat back, sending Potter my well practiced 'I Hate Potter' glare, reserved for Potter, Weasley (of the Fred variety) and Higgins (of the Mat variety). Well, maybe that's a bit mean. Mat can be alright when he's not around the other two. Weasley is just downright moronic, sadistic and twisted, and Potter doesn't even deserve to be graced with the knowledge that anyone, not even a Flobberworm, knows of his existence.

And no matter how hard I keep trying to convince him that I would not save his sorry ass if he begged me on bended knees (although it would be pretty funny...) to.

Yes, you may have gathered, I HATE POTTER!!!

Take deep breath, think of nice happy thoughts. Such as the moon being made out of white chocolate conveniently made to look like cheese.

Mmmmm... cheesy chocolate

"Dan? Dannie? You in there?" Liv whispered, niggling at me with her horribly sharp claw

"Wha? Hu?" I said

She giggled "You were having one of your googly moments. You know where your eyes go all popped and funny?"

I scowled, but she widened her eyes so they looked like big toad's eyes, which made me laugh

"What are you laughing about? Shut up or get out!"

I believe my DADA teacher is PMSing. I whispered that to Liv, and she snorted, and then turned to her other side to tell Kiki, who leant back on her chair to look at me, and then laughed as well. Pretty soon all three of us were laughing our heads off.

This is one of the reasons I love Hogwarts. It makes you laugh at only mildly amusing things. Prof PMS scowled, and then pointed his wand threateningly at me

"What!?!" He growled. I giggled.

"Well, one, I could probably sue you for threatening me. And two, me and the girls were just wondering if you need a spare tampax." I let that settle, watching as his face turned from the usual normal skin tone to angry tomato red. My teacher looks like those mutant tomatoes Prof Nevsters is growing in greenhouse three!

Then I continued "Of course, if you'd prefer a liner, I'm sure that can be arranged too."

Do you see what I mean about verbal diahorrea?

Because this is an excellent example.

Liv and KiKi were dying of laughter next to me, so as a mark of a best friend, I controlled my awful disease and shut up for once.

Some of the girls were tittering, embarrassed. Others were laughing as well. Mind you, seeing as this is top set, there are a lot of Ravenclaws, so maybe that would account for the lack of hillariosity. And the boys? Well, Potter and his Idiots are guffawing like baboons that've just been given new bananas (waste of Sloosh ingredients).

I smirked at my gobsmacked teacher, who shook his head like a dog in a bubble bath. Kiki looked at him with a sympathetic expression. Well, I could see the glint in her eyes, but he couldn't. She stood up, her thick, long afro bouncing with each step she took, walking up to (and towering over) the red-faced professor, and patting him on his lightly balding head

"Wrack spurt?" She asked

When he called the three of us back inside everyone else had calmed down. The chairs and desks had all been banished and everyone stood in a lose semi-circle around a big, ornate wardrobe.

Liv's eyes rolled. "How inventive. A Bogart on our first day. Scare us. Well, at least try to." She snorted

Kiki sighed. "Last time, do you remember what happened?"

"Well, I seem to remember you put a bra on a centaur, right? What's wrong with that?" I asked, slightly confused

"Well, it was the fact that the bra said 'I heart McG' on it that landed me in detention, actually." She answered, sighing dramatically.

Liv laughed. "Oh yeah! That was pretty funny. You didn't deserve a detention for that one." She patted Kiki on the arm sympathetically, and then shh-ed us, flapping her hands, motioning towards our livid teacher

I stood in line, waiting for my turn, behind Liv, in front of Potter. Liv stepped forward, and Kiki's bra clad centaur warped and shifted, reshaping as a small, muggle rubber duck. I stepped around Liv to see it better, making sure I was still further away from it than Liv was. She was pale, gawping at it.

I set off laughing. It was so ridiculous. My best friend, Liv, scared of a rubber duck?

Potter started laughing as well, throwing his head back and drawling out that dastardly sound for far too long.

Then, remarkably, Liv laughed as well. The duck twitched on the floor, the Bogart unsure of what to do. Professor Anti-Laugh scowled at the lack of any form of spell, and shooed Liv to the back of the cue again, pushing me forward.

With a sinking, sobering feeling I stepped up, my patent heels clicking softly in the now silent room, everyone watching me and the Bogart.

The duck shifted, swapping. Then there, in the middle of the room was the old, pale, faded, sagging table that lived in our kitchen, complete with the hole my dad drilled into it by accident, and the red wine stains that never did come out.

I looked at it curiously for a moment. Then out of the wardrobe stepped my mum. Her hair was, as usual, an almost orange brown, dyed, her grey roots showing hideously. Her hair was a big, bushy mass, almost a mane around her face. Her eyelids sagged into her blood-shot eyes, big grey bags underneath. Her double chin sagged with defeat. She wore her big, baggy navy blue jumper, the bleach stains painfully obvious. She stood, hunched over, her back clearly paining her. She hobbled forward, her already damaged legs struggling to carry her excess weight. In one hand she held a dirty cloth. She didn't acknowledge me.

She struggled over to the table, and began trying to clean it, but with each scrub she winced in pain, her eyes filling with unshed tears. I stepped forward, on auto-pilot. I'd dealt with this situation far too many times before.

"Mummy? Mummy, sit down, I'll do that for you. I'll get you a cup of tea. You need a break." I said in a sweet, soft, comforting tone that no-one at Hogwarts had ever heard me use.

"No, Ella. You won't do it well enough. I don't want Emma to get ill." She replied, pain edging each word like a knife. She was so defeated. But I'd seen all that before as well.

"Mummy, maybe you should go and sit in the lounge and do some of your work? That still needs doing and you wouldn't be hurting yourself either. I'll do this, sort dinner, play with Emma and it'll all be alright." I said, still in the soft voice that belonged to Ella, not me.

"You say that every time, Ella, but you never mean it. You lie to me." She replied, still scrubbing and wincing, scrubbing and wincing.

Out of the wardrobe stepped a little, bare foot. I felt my heart wrench, weeping silently for this sight.

"Ellie! Ellie! You came home! I love you! I've missed you!" She sang, her high, soprano child's voice light.

"Of course I did Ems! And I love you too."

She nodded solemnly, her blond curls bouncing. Then she turned to mum, watching her carefully. Then she turned back to me

"Sissy, didn't the doctor man say Mummy was ill and she shouldn't do anything bad?" She asked, showing her ability to pick up too much and too little at the same time

"Yes, but Mummy's just fine. I'll come and play with you later, yes? Why don't you go and talk to Daddy?"

She pouted "Daddy's gone."

"Oh."

But then, as though called, the man in question stepped out from thin air, as though he had whisked an invisibility cloak off.

"Daddy!" Emma shrieked, throwing herself at our dad. He shoved her off, making her land on her bum, tears springing to her eyes and flowing swiftly down her cheeks. She knew better than to say anything.

My dad saw my mum, and put an arm around her shaking shoulders, rubbing her arm, reaching around her and taking the cloth off her gently.

Then he turned to me, hissing "Why? Why do you hate your own family? Killing your mother? Forcing her to do what she was told will kill her? Leading your sister astray? She's just a child! How could you?" His eyes glinted with fury.

Feeling empty, I took a step back, knowing was coming

"I hate you, you know that? I wish you were dead." He took an almighty step forward, grabbing my forearms with both hands, picking me up and shaking me violently

"Just look at you. Filthy, disgusting, selfish little brat. After everything I've done for you! After everything _we've_ done for you." He dropped me, making my knees buckle

My mum gave a short gasp, hand flying to her chest, eyes widening in fear. I knew what was happening, and it saddened me more than I can ever explain. It was another of her heart contractions. Where it beat wrong, and her brain was deprived of oxygen just that little bit longer. When it changed her just a little bit more, made her a bit more insane, a bit less mum.

Emma was crying freely now, terrified for mum. I stepped towards her, but dad slapped my face, forcing me backwards again "She doesn't need you. Get away from her."

My father walked to my mother and forced her into the chair that had suddenly appeared. She was shaking, moaning quietly.

"How is it?" He asked her gently, rocking her slightly. She didn't answer. He shook her with increasing strength, until she was being shaken how I had been only moments before.

"Stop! Please!" I begged. He turned his malicious eyes on me

"No."

That was when Potter yanked my arm backwards, and stepped around me, causing the vision in front of me to blur and warp once again.

_So, that's the next one! It's kinda sad, I guess, but hopefully that shows you a bit about what Dannie ran away from, as well as why she always wears heels. _

_Also, 'Sloosh' is, in fact, a very, very yummy drink, that is extremely high in calories, but worth every one. The recipe works, apart from asking a house elf. I'm still trying to find a house elf, you see..._

_Anyway, all I'll say is this:_

_Every time someone leaves a review, a fairy gets its wings._

_And fairies get very, very violent when they are denied of their wings._


	4. Emma

I watched in silence as Potter turned the image of some clouds on a dark night, moving faster and faster across the classroom, into a big, pink sheep, running around the classroom. Then using a spell his dad (Harry Potter, for those idiots out there) presumably taught him, he locked the Bogart back in the wardrobe, and turned back to face me.

His face was hard and angry, eyes burning. I flinched away from the strong emotion.

Kiki stood up and stepped away from me, drawing her wand on Potter. Liv hugged me close and rocked me gently like a little baby.

"Don't mess with us, Potter." Kiki threatened "Else you'll regret it."

Potter sighed, exasperated. "Sheesh! I was only going to ask her if she was alright. But if she has a secretary I could ask, then I'll book a time to ask her that later, yes?"

Liv raised an eyebrow. "Potter, if that's what you wanted to do, then you can just say it now."

He ran a hand through his messy, thick dark hair, shifting from one foot to the other. "Well... are you okay, Danni?"

I jumped. I still felt like Ella. I was Ella, after all.

Well, I wasn't, and I was. They were two different people.

"Thanks for pulling me away, James." I said in a tiny, mousy voice. Then I stood up, smoothing my skirt. I walked back over to get my books, my heels clicking reassuringly, and without a word I left the room.

I walked back to the Gryffindor common room, breathing deeply and regularly to keep myself calm. The Fat Lady looked at me with great interest, like I was some kind of interesting new species. I ignored her. At least I tried to.

I felt like Ella again. And I'd not been Ella for almost two years.

I curled up in the corner by the fire, pulling my legs up close to my body, rocking myself gently, singing the lullaby.

And the fire flickered, glowing and safe. The silence danced with the gentle tease of the fire, the redness and the goldness. I was safe here. I was safe here. I was safe here.

A tap on the window made me jump up, wand in hand, but it was just an owl, which I collected.

It was from Kiki and Liv. Professor (and I quote) Dipshit wouldn't let them leave the lesson early, and they would come and find me as soon as they could escape.

I smiled a watery smile. Liv knew everything; Kiki knew almost all of it. They were the very best people I could hope to have in my life. Without them I would be nothing.

I sat down, clutching the paper in my hand. Thinking about Emma. My dad had been right. How could anyone leave their sister, who they love, with a man who they know is dangerous? Straight after their mother had been admitted to a mental hospital?

What was I thinking?

I stood up then, suddenly seething with myself, scrunching the parchment tight into my hand. A feeling of coldness swept through me, a bitter-sweet release from the pain.

I walked slowly up to my dorm, sitting on my bed, twiddling with the corners of the duvet. How had everything changed so fast? It's not that I didn't think about my family; they haunted everything I did. But this? This was different.

I reached under my bed, dragging out an old shoe box, dusty on top. I lifted the lid off with shaking fingers.

This was the only box I had left. Emma's tiny converse shoe left one. She had the right one. Mum's watercolour paint set and a sketch pad, the first few pages filled with beautiful singing, free birds. A robin, this one, a bluebird the next one.

A bunch of pictures. Mum on her wedding day. Emma when she was just born. Me and Emma smiling in the back yard. Me on my first day of school. My sixth birthday card. Mum laughing, sat in the kitchen, the joke frozen forever.

My Hogwarts letter was there, telling me I was a witch. A letter from my grandma and grandpa, telling me how proud they were that I was a witch, and how they were a witch and wizard. Apparently my dad was a squib. So was my mum, that's how they met. The magic seemed to have skipped a generation.

A letter from my mum, with the words 'secundum nex' on it. After death.

That was the letter my mum had wrote for me to read after she had died.

She wrote it when she first found out about her condition.

I traced a light finger over the soft, faded cursive. If she died, would anyone bother to tell me?

Emma would have started senior school now. In her first year. I wondered what she was like. Would she still be the same tearful little girl I had left at the end of my fourth year? The girl who wasn't mature enough to be her age of eight, but had seen more than anyone should ever see. A mother dying, a father violent, and a sister abused.

I blinked rapidly. Because I didn't cry for my family. They deserted me. They didn't deserve and tears.

The door to my dorm twitched open and I jumped. There was still another half an hour left of the lessons.

James Potter's head poked cautiously around the door. Too annoyed to be fascinated and impressed, I snapped "What do you want?"

He paused, unsure. I felt a little guilty. Note the little, because it's more important than the guilty part. I sighed

"Potter, either come in or stay out."

James let a little relieved smile filter onto his face, and he stepped in and shut the door behind himself.

"Er... Dannie, I'm sorry about...earlier."

I nodded absently, still trailing mum's script.

"What's that?" He asked, nodding towards the letter

I curled up again, drawing my knees up to my chin, wrapping my arms around myself protectively, rocking again.

He backtracked pretty fast "You don't have to say... I mean, if you do, uh, want to, that is, I mean, you can... tell me, if you want...er."

I let out a half hearted laugh, muffled through my emotions.

He smiled encouragingly at me

"It's the letter my mum wrote when she found out she was going to die." I said, monotone, carefully empty.

He blinked, but stayed silent, oddly

"When she dies, I'm allowed to open it."

He stared intently at it, as if it was about to talk to him

"But I don't speak to them anymore."

His eyebrows furrowed

"My mum is in a mental hospital somewhere. My sister will have just started senior school." My eyes hardened "but I couldn't care less where my dad is. You saw how he is."

There was silence. It was oddly... comforting. James is never silent. He never stops talking, especially around me. Although, I guess I see him almost as competition, the only person in Hogwarts whose reputation is on the same level as mine. Everyone knows Dannie and her girls, and everyone knows James and his boys. SO I suppose I don't shut up around his either. Maybe it's my fault. Again.

In the end I lay back on my bed, James sat on the floor, leant against Kiki's bed. Then suddenly he broke the silence, making me jump

"Well we'll just have to find them then, won't we?"

I looked at him. He sat there, knees up towards the ceiling, ankles crossed, an elbow on each knee, bridging the gap, and his chin was rested on top. His dark, messy hair had fallen softly into his eyes, which were slightly glazed, staring pensively out of the window, brow furrowed.

And I had promised myself I would never say this, but his fan girls do at least have some reason to be stalking him night and day.

"Er, I don't think finding them is going to be very easy. They're all squibs." I sighed, trying to bring him back to reality

He looked at me, before arching a brow and smirking lightly "I'm the son of Harry Potter. If we want to find them, we will."

Well, it was a nice sentiment, if he hadn't ruined it by being all high and mighty

"Potter..." I growled. He held his hands up in mock surrender "Okay, okay."

I nearly fainted with shock. Potter, the James Potter who has never ever given up to me before has just accepted criticism and surrendered. He nearly even said sorry!

"Look, we both know my ego is probably too big. That's just the way I am. And you can't say that you don't have a similar status in school. You have your fan club of drooling guys, two best friends, teachers bowing down to you... need I go on?"

I didn't know what to say. I just shrugged.

"Right. So we need a plan, yes?" he asked after a moment of silence

"I suppose. It won't work though." I said

He stood up and dusted himself off "Course it'll work."

He smiled at me. I smiled weakly back. "I don't think it will. But it can't get any worse, can it?"

He smiled a soft smile at me, one I'd never seen him use before. Then he nodded once to me and left me, sat on my bed, very confused.


	5. Red Rose

_Helly welly ho! That's Ashi speek for hi, by the way. _

_Hope you enjoy this one, and try to read between the lines; the plot is building! _

_Well, at least it's trying to build. At one point it lost the mortar, and most of the bricks are a bit rubbish, but no-one's perfect, are they?_

_As usual, a review is a happy, happy event in my life..._

Kiki and Liv came in about ten minutes after James had left, both rushing to my side and hugging me at once. They didn't push me to talk about it, or even bring it up; they just let me calm down, reminding me that they were there for me no matter what.

Kiki rummaged through her trunk, muttering about 'brothers...', but in the end she pulled out some Honeyduke's Finest, cracking a slab off for each of us. The three of us sat on my bed, gnawing away like hamsters.

I smiled. This was where I belonged. I was safe here.

"So, I'm guessing that was your family, right?" Liv asked, her pale blue eyes searching my face

Kiki elbowed her "Leave her alone! If she wants to talk, she will do."

"Nah, it's alright. Yep, that was my family, almost exactly as they were when I ran away."

They nodded sympathetically, urging me on

"Well, you can see what I left little Emma to deal with. How could I have done that? What on earth was I thinking? I practically signed her life away!" I said, my voice wavering and cracking

"Hey, come on. You know that's not how it was. Your dad never hurt Emma like he hurt you. I bet you she's fine." Liv said

"You... your mum... what's happened to her?" Kiki asked.

"She's at a mental hospital. Well, that's the last I heard." I took a big, gulping breath "She could be dead."

Kiki's eyes widened in shock, and she slapped a hand over her mouth "Sorry!" she said, but it came out muffled thanks to her hand

I smiled wryly "S'alright, Ki, there's nothing you could've done."

Liv went down to the kitchens to get us all some lunch, and we sat in the dorm, getting crumbs all over my bed as we ate our rolls and soup. When we were done, Kiki vanished the mugs, Liv scourgified my bed. I stood up and stretched, then smoothed my uniform down, put my shoes on again and freshened my makeup a little.

To me, how I looked meant everything. I know that sound really shallow, but it's actually not. Mum never looked good, she never felt good. She hated how she looked, and it would make her day if she had her hair done nicely for one, or her eyes weren't as saggy, or she lost a little weight.

I wasn't going to end up like that.

So for that reason, the three of us always ran in the mornings, sometimes for half an hour, other times longer, around the grounds, ate carefully.

Obviously, emergency chocolate is exempt from the 'healthy diet' plan.

My hair was a 'black cherry' colour. Well, naturally it's the same orangy-brown that my mum's was, but after a nice little permanent colour charm, it's now a dark burgundy, that suits my pale skin well.

I spend hours on my skin. It has a tendancy to flake, and so it never gets the chance, before I attack it with super-strenght moisturisers. Over the years I've perfected that art, and so now my skin is usually a porclane-doll colour that my mum never achieved.

My eyes are really pale, grey-y in colour and lined with thick, but pale lashes. Thankfully a little darkening charm had those nice and perfect. My eyebrows are a little too low, but I keep them plucked to perfection so they don't look too bad.

My lips are probably my best feature. They're full, smooth, and pale, but they fit in my face nicely.

And yes, it may seem vain to be taking so much pleasure out of my looks, but to me it was about not being how my mum was. It meant everything.

My entire wardrobe was tailored to fit my slim figure (yes, doing more exersice and eating less does, in fact, make you lose weight) well, even though my boobs weren't anywhere near as big as Liv or Kiki's. Liv had a curvy, feminine figure, whereas I had a slim, streamlined figure that took careful dressing before I even looked female, never mind nice.

Kiki offered to do an engorgement charm on them back in fourth year, but I decided against it; if I changed myself too much would I lose my identity?

I had done extensive work on my teeth though. They used to be horrifically higgldy pigglydy, yellow and just generally yuky.

Not anymore. Thankgod. Kiki's always been really good at charms, but she outdid herself there.

I always wore heels. Unless I was running in a morning, of course. Heels to me were the very thing that I wanted to be. Sophisticated, in control and beautiful. Heels made me feel safe, different from my family. I went from being Ella to Dannie by putting them on. Because Ella wore frumpy granny shoes to make her father happy, and Dannie wore big, stelletto, black patent shoes, because that's what she wanted to do.

"Come on, Dannie, we need to go." Liv said, quietly. Both her and Kiki knew the reason why I always looked perfect. They were the only two though.

I nodded, smiling as my big, smooth, shiny curls bounced, and grabbed my books.

The next lesson was Herbology, a great lesson for messing around as Professor Longbottom couldn't care less what we did.

It was Liv's best subject though, so Kiki and I mostly respected that she wanted to listen.

Liv sat on my right, Kiki on my left. We all got our dragonskin gloves out and put them on. This is greenhouse three, people!

This class was also the top set, and Liv deserved her place there. Although how Kiki and I got there I never will know.

Professor Longbottom walked in five minutes late, looking rather flustered. "Hello everyone. Sorry I'm late, Luna was shouting at me."

The class let out a little giggle. It was well known that the school's healer, Madam Luna Longbottom, could go from waffling about wrack-spurts to screaming about resbonsibilty in under a minute.

And as her husband, Nevile almost always was on the receiving end of this sudden mood change. It was pretty funny, if you ask me.

"Right, welcome back everyone, today we're doing Roses."

Liv's eyes widened and her mouth popped open. Kiki and I just looked at each other in confusion.

"Can anyone tell me the difference between the muggle roses and the wizarding roses?"

"Muggle roses simply have thorns on them which can cause a nasty cut, but nothing else. They smell nice and are a symbol of love in both worlds. But in the wizarding world one prick from the rose will send you into a never-ending sleep, and if you get enough of a stab off it, you die. But if you smell the flowers, you fall irrevocably in love with the next person who kisses you." Liv recited, sounding like Rose Weasley.

Nevile nodded seriously "Exactly, Miss Cardew. But these ones are only tiny seedlings. You will be each receiving a plant, which you will have to care for until it reaches its adult size. You will need to research in the library how to care for them, what they need and such."

Kiki looked at me "What the hell!"

"At least we have Liv." I whispered back. She nodded.

"Right. So, do you lot want to work in pairs or on your own?" he asked the class, scratching his head

Silence

"or shall I pair you up myself?"

Massive flurry of movement to find partner, leaving Kiki and I together, as Liv refused to chose between the two of us.

And you will not believe who she ended up with? Mat. Yes, Mat of the Idiot Group.

They sat next to us, talking softly, laughing every so often. Kiki and I ogled them in horror.

Our best friend was being drawn in by the Idiot Group Charm! Noooo!

I glared at Mat, who shrugged, blushing lightly, before turning back to Liv.

"Someone please shout 'joke!'!" I begged

I stared blankly at the little seedling that would grow up to be deadly. Then I looked at the pile of dragon dung, the plant pot made out of silver (apparently it stops the Rose growing too fast) and a little silver trowel.

After another five minutes, Kiki grabbed the trowel and piled the dung into the pot, before sitting down, looking smug. Thanks, Kiki. You do the easy part.

At least it's not flowered yet. I could not deal with falling in love right now.

A nice, long sleep sounds wonderful right now.

I sighed, giggling at the thought of me, Sleeping Beauty, lying in the hospital wing, hair splayed out across the pillow, awaiting Prince Charming.

Ha

I tipped the smaller plant pot out, spilling the dragon dung out and making the seedling writhe angrily. Ajusting my gloves, I picked it up carefully in one hand, making a hole in the dung in the new pot with the other. I shoved it in and patted the dirt down again.

I grinned and vanished the old dung and plantpot, cleaned the trowel and returned it to the front of class.

Kiki looked impressed, and then pointed round me at Liv and Mat

I motioned for her to keep quiet, and cast a super-sensory charm. Really, Liv is better at those than me, but seeing as it's Liv we're eavesdropping on, I can hardly ask her for the spell.

"This has been really fun." We heard Mat say to Liv "I've really enjoyed it."

I snorted. How romantic. I've really enjoyed potting a deadly plant in dragon dung.

"Yeah. Me too. And much though I love my friends, you have no idea how annoying their constant questions on Herbology get." She said with a rueful smile

Kiki and I snickered. Winding her up about Herbology was pretty hilarious, you have to admit.

"I know what you mean. James is pretty good at school work, but never bothers. Fred is just, well, Fred. His life revolves around the next prank. School is merely a playground of oppourtunities, filled with unsuspecting first years and Slytherins." Mat joked

Liv smiled at him. It can be hard to tell with Liv whether she actually likes the guy or if she's just boy-baiting.

"James is actually good at school work?" she asked. I smiled in relief. She was just using him to get information. I felt a little sorry for Mat, but he shouldn't have been part of the Marauders if he didn't want this to happen. Us girls exist to stop their heads getting too big.

"Oh yeah. Haven't you noticed how he's always getting really good marks? How he's in the top set for everything he takes, apart from Herbology?"

Liv nodded thoughtfully

"I guess. He can just be so... thick at times."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, with feelings, for example."

Kiki and I looked at her in shock and confusion. What on earth?

Mat clearly hadn't understood either

"Well, he messes girls around all the time. One every week. Yet the one girl he acts different around he says he hates." She stated, as though he'd been stupid to not notice.

"It's just James, I guess. And no matter what you say about him, remember he's my best friend." Mat said, making Liv colour slightly with embarrassment. Maybe Mat wasn't as thick as he looked.

Liv seemed to think so too, because she turned the conversation to the safe grounds of quidditch pretty fast.

The three of us trooped out of Herbology together, heading for our last lesson of the day, Divination.

Well hey, everyone needs a sleep subject.

Mind you, Kiki's mum is some famous African seer, so she loves the damned subject. Liv and I are a bit like me and Kiki in Herbology.

We stepped up into the fume filled space, gagging on the horrible smell, thanking Merlin that we had Kiki to get us through our exams, and get us into the top set, so we were still all together as a group.

"Welcome." Said the high pitched, disbodied voice. That was Professor Sutton's favourite trick.

I giggled. The thin, spindly man had started near the end of last year, when Prof T had finally died. We were all convinced she would do a Binns and come back, but she didn't.

Professor Sutton was a strange man. His voice was too high, his eyes too big, his mouth too small. His feet were oddly mismatched (the cause of much amusement... you know what big feet mean... so what does odd feet mean?), and he brandished his wand around far too much for comfort.

At least he didn't wear those big bug eye glasses Prof T used to.

"I have foreseen that I will welcome you, class."

I snorted

"I have foreseen that anyone snorting in my lesson again will receive a detention."

By this time I was full on laughing

"I have foreseen you will join me here, tomorrow night at severn."

"Ooh! I've always wanted to date you, sir, thankyou! Dress or skirt?"

"I have foreseen you will stop disrupting my class."

"Then you're struggling with your sight sir. Maybe you need inner glasses?" Liv piped up

The whole class, apart from Kiki was now in histerics. Kiki was sat with her face pressed up against the glass ball she had lifted out of her bag, her eyes misted over and unfocused

Divination dragged rather, because in the end Kiki put a silencing charm over both me and Liv to shut us up, saying she wouldn't help us pass if we didn't bother to learn.

Spoil sport.

Just because she's good at this stuff.

At least none of the Idiot Group takes Divination. Instead I amused myself by practicing my none verbal spells. On the Slytherins.

But really, if you don't want to be constantly pranked, you beg and plead with the hat until it lets you off.

I had my previously rubbish jelly-legs jinx down pat by the end of the lesson.

After the lesson we all trouped down to the kitchens to get some 'bikkits' as I call them.

Happily munching away, we all headed back up to the common room, dead set, as usual, that this year we were going to be model students and do all our homework on time.

I give it until the end of the week at most, but it's the thought that counts, right?

Everyone was crowded around the notice board when we got in there, so Liv went over to investigate.

"Quidditch trials." She said dully.

My eyes sparkled. I loved quidditch. It was the best thing since the jelly-leg jinx.

"When?" I asked

"Er, dunno?"

"Liv!" I wined

She smiled sheepishly. "I got distracted."

Kiki raised an eyebrow "By what, exactly, Livsters?"

"Nothing! Nothing important! I swear!"

"Well well. Shall we get a written confession or is this good enough?" I joked

She sighed and slumped down on the sofa next to me in defeat

"Okay. Fine. You got me. Don't be mad." Then she took a deep breath "ImightkindalikeMat. Possiblymaybe. I'm not sure."

"Huh?!?" Kiki and I said at the same time, looking at her incredulously.

"But you were just baiting him earlier!" Kiki said.

Liv's eyes narrowed "How do you know?"

Kiki faltered, realising she'd put her foot in it.

"Well, you know, being his partner in Herbology, well it just looked, you know..." I said, seeing as Kiki was still frozen in panic mode.

She turned her glare on me, but after six years of being her best friend, I'm pretty convincing. She relaxed, and pulled yet another cookie out of her pocket

"Don't go getting fat!" I warned "I'll make you run more!"

"You wouldn't!" She said, only half sarcastic. Mainly because we both knew I would

We pulled out our homework and began to work on it, mainly because we mad nothing better to do. We had a few questions to answer from our text book on Bogarts, had to keep a detailed log on how our Rose was doing, without killing it, and we had to practice our tea-leave reading, after reading the chapter on it in our book.

It wasn't that bad, considering this was NEWTs we were on about. We had it all done in no time, seeing as Liv is Herbology genius, Kiki is Divination genius and I'm not too bad at DADA. Even though I did run away from a pathetic little Bogart.

Later on Kiki went to meet up with some 'dishy Ravenclaw quidditch player', Liv went to 'the library' (almost certainly to 'study' with Mat) and I went to find the quidditch captain, a rather scary looking seventh year beater named Mark Zabini, who was a bit of a black sheep, considering all of his other family members were proud (and well pranked) Slytherins.

I found him, as anticipated, down by the pitch. I'd been on the team since third year, playing as seeker, and if we lost a match it was usually because the chasers or the keeper was messing up.

"Hey Mark!" I shouted, breaking him from whatever tactical madness he was plotting

"Oh hey Dan. How're you?" he asked, looking up

"Oh I'm good thanks. I was just wondering if I was still on the team, that's all."

He laughed "Are you mad? If I drop you we'll lose! Of course you're on the team." Then he added "That's not an invitation to slack though."

I laughed. "Course not. So do I need to come to tryouts?"

He thought for a moment "Well, it'd be good to have everyone there, but I'm not about to do what Wood did to us last year and force everyone to every single practice. We're good enough without killing ourselves over it."

I grinned. Last year Wood had deffinately made sure we all gave it our all. If it wasn't our life, we were off the team. We weren't allowed to date anyone on the team, we weren't allowed to go to detentions if they were on a practice day, and we had to get up at four every week day morning and six on a weekend to go and fly laps of the pitch to 'keep up our fitness'.

Yes, Wood did get pranked a lot, both by me and Kiki and Liv, and by James and Fred and Mat.

"Cheers, Mark. See you later, yeah?"

He nodded, already back to studying the list of hopefuls for the next day's tryouts.

Back in the common room, I sat and played chess with a little first year, who hadn't any friends. Her name was Lucy, she was a muggle born. She wasn't used to all the magic, and she wasn't very good at it. Or so she told me.

But she was good at chess. Worryingly so. She beat me fair and square, after we'd gathered an audience. Potter and his cronies were there, laughing at me as I got beaten by the little first year.

"I'll play the winner!" James shouted. Lucy looked at him, and then back at me, fearful. I rolled my eyes and she giggled, then we carried on.

"Check mate." She said, quietly. James whooped, and scooped her up, spinning her around like she was his little sister. She laughed, the win giving her confidence she previously didn't have.

She and James settled into a furious match, me sinking onto the sofa next to James as I watched them play. She was very good at planning, careful tactics that backed up every move she made. James was more... rash, and acted more on his instincts, but against Lucy's tactics, it seemed to work well, throwing her off course as she couldn't plan for his move.

"Check." She said, brow fullowed. James grinned the smile that filled every Slytherin with dread. The 'I've got you now. And you walked right into it' grin.

With one quick flick James's knight landed, directly in line with Lucy's King. I thought he'd just lost his knight, but then I saw the bishop.

"Check mate." He said, grinning like a loon.

She looked at the board in shock. "What?!?" she asked

"Yep!" he said brightly

Then she exclaimed "You planned all of that?! You let me think you didn't have a plan, and that _was_ your plan? To not have a plan?"

He nodded "Works every time. I'll teach you if you like. You're too easy to read. Although, against almost anyone else I bet you'd have won."

She smiled at him, and then said "Re match?"

"Not now, squirt. I've got nasty pasty homework to do. Some other time, yeah?"

She nodded and skipped off.

I processed all of that, and then, in a bit of a confused daze, I trotted up to the dorm.

_Aww... so the infamous James Sirius Potter has a heart after all?_

_Maybe there was something in his pumpkin juice?_

_I would love any reviews, comments, thoughts or anything else that involves you clicking the 'review' button, typing a few letters and sending it_

_I'm running out of good things that could happen if you do so. Cookies and faries though... could it get any better?_

_Don't answer that. _

_There's still unicorns. XP_


	6. Know It All

_Oitty Mitty Gitty! Chapter four has followed chapter three!_

_What is the world coming to?_

_Have fun, kiddies, and remember that strangers always have the best candy_

Up in my dorm I slipped my shoes off, and lay down on my bed, looking up at the canopy, thinking about (much though I'm loathed to say it) James.

He was such a strange boy. One minute he was being horrible and insulting me or just being generally annoying, breaking girl's hearts all the time without a care in the world. And then the next minute he was being the adorable big brother to a little girl he had only just met!

Or he was promising me he would help to find Emma.

Rose Weasley walked in then, tears streaked down her face, her vivid red hair messy.

Normally, I steer clear of Rose Weasley. She's a know it all who lives in a book. Her social skills are at their best with a teacher and she deliberately blocks you out.

And sure, she was witty, had an answer for everything, was pretty and fancied by quite a number of our year, she was the ice queen that no-one messed with.

"Rose?" I said softly

She looked at me, and then crumpled, falling to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. I dug in Kiki's trunk on autopilot and found the chocolate

"Here you go. This'll help."

I handed the chocolate, which she took silently, nibbling on the corner.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"N...yeah. I guess I do."

I was surprised to say the least. Rose Weasley wanted to talk to me? The girl she had called plastic for so many years? Heartless?

"You have to promise not to tell anyone." She said, turning her tearful blue eyes on me

"Sure. I won't say a word." I reassured her

She sniffed

"You know Scorpius Malfoy?"

Huh? Malfoy? What's he got to do with this?

"Well, he's always been horrible to me. His dad was always horrible to my mum. It's always been, and always will be that way. But it hurts, you know?"

"Course I know. Everyone gets hurt, Rose."

Rose, the ice queen, was hurt? I know I just said everyone gets hurt, but not Rose Weasley. She's too perfect to get hurt.

"He called me fat."

Well, she's not as skinny as me, Liv and Kiki, but she's not fat

"And said I was ugly."

She isn't ugly, but she doesn't care for herself properly

"And said I was a swotty, stuck up know it all."

Well... yeah.

"And that the only reason anyone ever spoke to me is because I'm the daughter of the mudblood and the sidekick that helped Harry Potter in the war."

Er...

"Look, Rose, that's not true. Everyone knows blood doesn't matter, and everyone knows your dad has saved Harry Potter too many times to count, so you can just put that comment down to him being an idiot."

She nodded weakly

"And for you being fat, that's not true. I'm not going to lie, you're not super duper skinny, but you definitely don't come under fat. You're not ugly, but Malfoy seems to like the blond bimbo type, so you probably are to him. But you're far prettier that any of his slags."

She gave a snivelly laugh

"But Rose, can I tell you something honestly?" she nodded "You are a swotty, stuck up know it all."

She gaped at me

"In the best possible way, of course. It's good that your school work is what matters to you. But sometimes you take it too far. Maybe you need to loosen up a little."

I shrugged, hoping I'd not killed our new friendship before it'd even started

She stared at the now almost all eaten chocolate in her hands

Then she looked back at me

"I think you're right." She whispered.

I nearly had a heart attack

Rose was the one who asked me to do it, so you can't pin the blame on me.

I sent her off to take a shower in the end, whilst I went through her wardrobe.

She had the typical uniform, your average jeans and tees, hoodies. Everything was very conservative and average.

It's like her hair. It's a beautiful colour, but you can't really appreciate it because it's not quite straight, not quite curly, and hangs like curtains, covering too much of her face.

I put the undetectable charms on her uniform first, before she got out of the shower, so she'd never know. They just made her look thinner, that's all. I could sort out their fit once I had a model to fit them to.

I know this is going to sound a bit strange, but her underwear was a disaster. What girl can feel good about herself while she's wearing granny bloomers?

Thankfully, Transfiguration is one of my better subject, and soon she had much nicer stuff. Rose didn't seem to be an overly lacy person, so I kept the lace to the minimum, mostly going for girl boxers and fun patterns.

She came out of the shower wrapped in a towel, her wet hair dripping on the carpet. I gave her the underwear and sent her back into the bathroom to put it on.

She came out looking very self-conscious.

"It's no wonder everyone thinks I'm fat!" she exclaimed, looking in the mirror

She wasn't actually _that_ bad. But there was definitely room for improvement.

"Right, Rose, I want you to trust me, got it?"

She nodded

"Okay. You need to stop eating anything that's bad for you. Salads, soups, fruit, that's all okay. Chips, pie and a big pudding are not, got it?"

She nodded again

"Next, you're coming running with me each morning."

"You run? Are you mad?"

"Nah. But to me, looking good is really important. And I've got to like running."

She raised an eyebrow, but didn't contradict me

"Next, you need to learn to love yourself, before anyone else will like you. At the moment, you have really low self esteem, and that doesn't do you any favours."

"And lastly, you need to learn how to add the finishing touches. You're naturally pretty, but you somehow hide it pretty damned well."

She smiled sheepishly

"Okay. Daniela's Pocket Guide to Looking Hot: rule one. Hair."

She laughed, and I forced her to sit down, facing away from the mirror

"Don't take too much off!" she said, nervously biting her nails. I swotted her hands away

"Sure, sure..."

In the end I did keep to my promise. With three different books open around me, I began shaping her hair around her face, giving it more structure and volume. I straightened it permanently, taking the slight frizz out all together. Layered and straight, the colour shone in the traditional Weasley Red, and it suited her well. I put in a light, wispy fringe that fell to the side, and then put an anti-jinx spell onto it to protect her from the pranks that had been aimed at her hair previously

I admired my work. Sure, Liv would've had it done in half the time, and Kiki would've made it more unusual and original, but Rose looked much, much better already.

"Okay. Rule two. Skin."

I knelt in front of her, carefully analysing it. With all those freckles I wasn't good enough to charm her skin with an anti-spot charm, so I'd have to wait for Kiki to get back. I could, however, transfigure it so she wouldn't blush quite as bad. She was, after all, famous for her Weasley Blush.

I siphoned all the grease off it, which was a bit disgusting, and I think Rose was suitably embarrassed, as she blushed lightly, which was a vast improvement on her usual tomato red.

"Okay, Rule three: clothing. You are what you wear. So who do you want to be, Rose?"

She looked surprised

"You mean you don't have to wear short skirts and stilettos to look good?"

I cringed, knowing she was referring to me

"Well, not really."

"Okay then. Well, I don't want to lose who I am, I just want to be a better version of me." She said, as if that made perfect sense.

I rummaged through her clothes, and threw her uniform at her. She put it on, and looked in the mirror

"Why do I look thin?" she asked

"Er, cos you've lost weight? Okay, fine. I charmed them to be that way. I don't know why you're complaining."

She laughed lightly

"Right, so..."

I tailored all of her clothes so they fit her better, and looked less like a first year's stuff. I transfigured a lot of her clothes so that were just that bit more fashionable. Things with a bit more flair.

Kiki and Liv came back half way through the whole shenanigan, and helped. Kiki, as expected, was able to put the skin charm on without harming her freckles. Liv was very complimentary about her hair. I was really proud of my friends; that they had welcomed her without questioning her, even though she'd said a lot of harsh things about us, especially Liv and her 'skinny mini blondy booby girly girl' looks, Kiki's perfect 'guy magnet' body and my 'heartless user' attitude.

All of those statements are probably routed in truth, but they're all blown way out of proportion.

Liv and Kiki helped me to finish her wardrobe, and the three of us stood admiring our achievement.

I got so much pleasure out of making someone else feel that they weren't worthless after all, that I suddenly had an idea.

I talked to Kiki and Liv about it later that night when Rose, Polly and Katie (the other two girls in our dorm. Polly and Katie are best friends, and they keep to themselves most of the time. I don't think I've spoken more than three words to either of them) had gone to sleep.

"You know how we three said we'd all work together, we just had to figure out what?"

Murmurs of 'yeah'

"Well we could open a 'fairy godmother' business. We could do what we're doing for Rose, for loads of other people!"

I heard the other two sit up in the dark

"That's an amazing idea!" Liv said

"I like it, but what would we do?" Kiki asked

"Well, look at Rose. She had no confidence at all, and now she's spent an evening laughing and joking with us, a completely different person! It hardly took any time at all!"

"Okay, so we'd do hair, face, body, clothing..." Kiki listed

"Yeah, and confidence and personality." I added "That's what makes a person beautiful. What's on the inside."

"This is brilliant! And Kiki, if you still wanted to do something with your Divination, you could do that in your free time, because we'd be running our own business, so we'd be able to chose when we had days off!" Liv added

"And Dannie, with your amazing potions ability, we'd have no problem brewing up all the beauty potions we'd need. We could also just sell the potions if we wanted!" Kiki said, having a bit of a brainwave

"Ooh! Liv, you could grow all those beautifying herbs and stuff! This is going to be soo good! We could get a place in Diagon Alley, and have a flat above it, and live there!" I said

"Not to break up your happy little planning session, but please SHUT UP!" came a voice from somewhere in the dorm. We all grumbled, then rolled over and went to sleep.

_Well, it is a story about girly-girls, there had to be a make-over somewhere!_

_When you were little your Mummy probably taught you it was nice to share._

_Well now you have a perfect oportunity. And it's all free!_

_All you have to do is review this chapter, and they hey! You've shared something! Your thoughts!_

_It's like the five a day veg thing. Eating fruit pastels is the way forward, my friends!_


	7. Eric the Tiger Puppy

_So, this is the next chapter... I hope you enjoy it..._

_I've not told you my secret identity for quite a while now. I am, in fact, J K, but in the guise of a student. _

_I know it's hard to believe, but with all this spirit transfer malarkey going around... it was too much to resist._

_(SARCASM, FOR THOSE IDIOTS OUT THERE.) Not that I'm suggesting anyone reading my story is an idiot._

_Er..._

-#-#-#-#-#-

The next day I got up, and woke up Kiki, Liv and Rose up, all of who tried in vain to stay asleep.

It was pretty obvious I was the only one who had kept up with running over the holidays, as Liv, Kiki and Rose were all panting pathetically by the time we got half way round our usual rout. We got back at about quarter to seven, later than I had hoped, but not too bad.

The four of us showered and dressed quickly, Rose looking a little worried about her new and improved appearance, but, keen to practice our 'fairy godmother' plan, we were all nothing but supportive, spending almost double the amount of time on Rose as we did on ourselves, making sure we didn't overdo the makeup or make her hair look fake.

We were all done by eight, thankfully, so we set about teaching Rose how to walk.

I know that sounds ridiculous, but you have no idea how... shyly she walks, without even meaning to.

By half eight Rose was walking and talking so much better, she was almost unrecognizable.

"Oh Merlin! I can't do this!" she said in a little voice as the other girls in the dorm looked at her with wide eyes, before leaving for breakfast

"Sure you can!" Liv said, patting her on the arm

"Hold on, I'll get you a confidence potion, I think I've got a spare one..." I said, rummaging through my trunk

I held up the sunny yellow potion, then handed it to her

"Cork off, down in one, got it?"

She nodded, and did as I said. We waited the thirty seven seconds for it to take effect, and then left the dorm with a much improved Rose in tow.

We always knew how to make an entrance, and I know I get a buzz from everyone watching me, but I got a much bigger buzz from everyone watching Rose. Thanks to the potion, she didn't shrivel up, but walked, just how we taught her, and sat with us at the table.

She still looked a little worried, but I couldn't help but smile at the sudden courage this girl was showing.

But what made me smile the most was Malfoy's gobsmacked face. I sent him a smirk as I left the hall, which he barely registered.

-#-#-#-#-#-#-

First lesson was Potions, down in the dungeons. And even though all of my friends were grumbling and moaning about it, I couldn't help but feel excited.

Sure, Slughorn, the professor, was pretty annoying with having to gulp down a life elixir every twenty minutes to keep himself alive, his Slug Club and his favouritism.

All the same, as his best student since Snape, I get special treatment. Thank Merlin. He never forces me to work with anyone I don't want to, meaning that for most of the lessons I worked alone, simply enjoying having free access to the potion store, all the equipment I would ever need and too many potion books to ever read all of. Bliss.

Of course, my view is probably best described as unorthodox, but who cares? I enjoy it.

I was half way through my Elixir of Beauty when Slughorn waddled over, peering into my cauldron, coughing lightly at the fumes

"And this is...?"

"Elixir of Beauty. From Moste Potente Potions. Well, mostly. I might have tweaked it a little."

Slughorn nodded happily and patted me on the back, continuing on his merry way, going over to see James (god only knows how he got in the top set) whose cauldron seemed to have come to life. Not, literally. Every time he went to stir it, it spat at him.

I looked over at Rose, who was stood, hundreds of books open around her, still looking how she did in the morning. I felt that swell of pride, and grinned at her when she looked my way. She returned it, motioning for me to go over.

"How's it going, Ro?" I asked

"Oh it's all good. How's yours going?"

"I'm pretty much done, I suppose. How do you like looking sexy?"

She laughed "Well, sexy might be a bit excessive, but it's nice to know I don't look a complete mess."

"Good. Do you think it's improved your confidence?" I asked

She nodded "Definitely. It's no wonder you always wear heels!"

"Er, I guess."

"I can't walk in heels. Don't your feet kill you by the end of the day?"

I laughed "It's all in the practice. I used to fall over a lot. But I can walk just as well in heels now as I do in flats."

She smiled. Rose clearly wasn't all that bad underneath.

"I want to get back at all the people who've been horrible to me." She said.

I blinked. What? This is cool, indifferent Rose Weasley here, not some kind of Robin Hood!

"I want to do something that will stop the people who've been mean to me, being mean to other people as well." She continued

"Riiight. So, what's the plan, batman?"

She laughed, and then said "I'll tell you later. I'm gonna need your help."

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

The rest of the day passed slowly, mainly because I couldn't wait to get out to the pitch and fly.

I ate dinner pretty fast, making Kiki and Liv laugh at me, Rose trying to hide her smile.

I dashed up to the dorm, grabbed my broom, and ran back downstairs again, giggling like a loon when I realised, halfway down to the pitch that I still had my heels on. I decided to carry on; Mark can just deal with it.

"WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU WEARING, LOCKET?!"

"Er, my stiletto heels and my school uniform?"

"That was not the answer I wanted! Now behave like a quidditch player or don't play quidditch!"

"Sorry. Shall I go back?" I asked in my sugary sweet voice

"No." He grumbled

I grinned at him. Score to Dannie.

James, Fred and Mat came panting over

"Right. Now we have a Chaser, Beater, Keeper and Seeker! Finally!" Mark huffed, looking rather stressed

"Alright, alright! Keep your knickers on!" Potter said, ruffling his stupid hair. As if it needs ruffling.

"What do you mean, keep your knickers on?! I've just had Jack resign his place as a beater, because he doesn't feel part of the team, due to you lot! Now I've not only got to find a chaser who works well with James and me, but I've got to replace Jack, who worked amazingly with Fred!" He paused, glaring at all of us "And to top it off, Dannie comes down here looking like a bloody model! YOU CANNOT PLAY QUIDDITCH LOOKING LIKE THAT!"

I raised an eyebrow at him "You just said I could."

He groaned.

I giggled.

Potter eye raped me

Fred sniggered when I hit Potter. Mat glared at me

"Sooo..." I said, trying to break the silence of glaring and hitting

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

The next morning I got up early, as usual, despite getting back late on and falling to sleep without even talking to Rose about her 'plan', and dragged the others out of bed. Liv hadn't gotten back until pretty late either, so she looked pretty tired. When she begged to be allowed to stay in bed I just reminded her that if she wanted to stay out late with a boy in a broom cupboard then she'd need to keep er killer figure. In other words, get your ass out of bed!

The run was worse than it had been the day before, because Kiki, Liv and Rose's muscles were aching anyway.

I was fine. That's why I don't stop running over the summer.

We got back, showered and dressed. I was pleased to see Rose doing most of her hair herself, and almost all of her makeup.

I bounced downstairs way before my sleepy friends, feeling rather bright, to see the new team list. I'd left practice early, seeing as I didn't have to work directly with the new members. Well, that and a rather cute Ravenclaw seventh year wanted to 'talk' to me. It's amazing what kind of 'chats' you can have in a quidditch changing room...so anyway, I hadn't seen the chaser tryouts. The beater tryouts had been a load of burly boys flexing their muscles at me. It got boring after a while.

_Gryffindor Quidditch Team_

_Keeper: Mat Higgins_

_Chasers: James Potter, __Mark Zabini__, __**Lucy Winters**_

_Beaters: Fred Weasley, __**Dave Finnegan**_

_Seeker: Dan Locket_

_Underlined – Captain_

_**Bold – new members**_

I frowned at the board. Dave Finnegan was a fourth year, but who was Lucy Winters? I had no idea.

The common room was mostly empty, apart from a random chess set, set up on the table, and the odd third years wittering away in the corner.

I guess that's why the soft little 'oh!' made me jump so much.

"No way..." said the same little voice. I span around, and there was the little chess playing first year, Lucy.

Wait.

Lucy?

"Er, Lu, are you alright?" I asked, not sure what to say.

"I'm on the team." She replied, her eyes wide

I was stumped for words for a few seconds, but then I picked her up and whirled her around, giggling and laughing with her, before the two of us settled down for a celebratory 'beat Dan at chess' game.

Kiki and Liv came down, towing Rose behind them. I giggled. They'd clearly forced her into heels.

"How do you do it?" she whined

"Well, left foot, right foot, left, right... you know." Liv said back, a tiny hint of annoyance in her tone.

"How about we get Dannie to put one of those charms on them to make them feel like flats to walk in, just until you're used to them?" Kiki asked, trying to diffuse Liv's temper

"Heels make you walk differently! They make you walk all sexy! You can't walk the same in flats!" Liv shouted, hysterically

"I know you're right Liv, but if she's awful in heels, she'll just look like a pregnant duck, rather than sexy. Let's take it slow, yeah?" I said, looking briefly back at the chess board

"Fine." Liv huffed in defeat. I smiled sweetly and transfigured the shoes to flats and then Kiki cast a clever little charm on them, making them look like heels again. Rose smiled gratefully.

I decided to stay and finish the game off, and meet the girls downstairs.

It seemed Lucy was still having trouble finding friends her own age, but why, I had no idea. She was cute, pretty and funny. What's not to like?

"Guess what, Jamie?" She suddenly shouted, a big smile on her face

I turned around to see Potter stood there, flanked by his Idiot Group.

"What, Munch-kin?" He asked, going along with her elated mood

"I'm the new chaser!" She said, eyes shining

Potter had a pretty similar reaction to me, in all honesty. Stumped, and then excited

He bounded over and picked her up from behind, tossing her around like she was a little rag doll, not a first year. She clearly loved it though, because she was shrieking and laughing.

It was pretty funny, actually.

But I'd never laugh at anything Potter was doing, because it goes against the laws of nature.

Well, I might have smiled.

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

Liv was waiting for me in the dining hall, looking murderous, holding a low calorie breakfast bar in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. She looked so scary, in fact, that all the younger kids were either running past her or going a different route. Kiki and Rose were nowhere in sight.

"Here you go." Liv said, thrusting the food into my hand

"Thanks, Livy. What's the matter?" I asked, looking at my fuming best friend

"Rose! That's what's the matter!"

"Why?"

Liv huffed and waved her hands around as if that was going to help

"Okay, let me guess. She's stealing Kiki?"

Liv wouldn't meet my eyes

"Look, Kiki's our best friend, and I know you don't want her to leave us, but she won't. We're all too close for that to ever happen. Anyway, I don't think it'll be long before Rose finds herself different friends."

Liv's eyebrows went up "Yeah right. She's clinging to us like your jelly legs jinx to a Slytherin."

I gave a sad smile. This is definitely Liv's worst trait; her ability to get jealous over nothing

"No, really, Liv. She's only clinging to us for the moment while she gets used to looking and feeling good about herself. She can't do it herself yet. It's like when a baby learns to walk, they hold onto their parents for ages first. We have to be proud that she's walking, not angry that she's clinging."

"When did you get so smart?" Liv asked wryly

"Are you saying I was thick before?" I asked in mock outrage

We laughed and headed off for class.

-#-#-#-#-#-

By lunch I was ready to kill myself, and we were only three days into our NEWTs. The ridiculous number of talks on 'this is _important_ now, understand?' was really beginning to drag.

We know it's important, morons.

On the way to DADA a little kiddie ran up to me and handed me a piece of paper, and then backed away slowly like I was some kind of dangerous animal.

_Training at six tonight. DO NOT BE LATE._

_Mark_

Kiki leant over and read it. "Wow, he's descriptive, isn't he?"

I laughed. Mark and Kiki are almost exact opposites of each other. Kiki can't do anything without doing it to its full, whereas Mark never bothers to waste any energy on anything that's not necessary.

It's odd, really, seeing as the Zabini family consider themselves just as much royalty as the Angelou family do, yet their children are so different.

Mind you, Mark doesn't have to get married to some unknown prince, unless, of course, he wants to.

Now there's a strange thought.

-#-#-#-#-#-

Transfiguration was interesting, I guess, but it was too easy to keep my full attention. My mind drifted to Emma.

I so wanted to know where she was. How she was. It was like squeezing acid into a wound, knowing that she'd grown up without me, but with my father.

From that thought, my mind trespassed into the strictly forbidden territory of James.

Could he really help me find Emma? Was he just joking?

Why would he want to help me? We hate each other, right?

And besides which, even if he was genuine, could we put our differences aside and work together to find my baby sister?

What would Liv and Kiki say?

"Miss Locket? Are you listening?" Came the bland voice of Professor Jennings

"No." I replied. At least I didn't lie...

"Why ever not?" She snapped, no longer sounding very bland

"Because I could do this spell in third year?"

Liv and Kiki sniggered. Rose tried to hide both a frown and a smile

"Well then, if you think you're so much better than everyone else, you can turn this desk into a puppy." She sneered, her eyes glinting maliciously

I frowned. That's not exactly fair play. Turning inanimate objects into animate objects is hard enough, say turning a quill into a beetle, but something as big as a desk into something as complex as a puppy?

I licked my lips and looked at the teacher, being reminded yet again for the reasons this woman was head of Slytherin, along with Slughorn who claimed he was 'too old for that kind of trouble'.

I stood up and walked to the front of class, trying to ignore the snitches whirring around in my stomach. I hate being shown up in public.

I looked at her, her wand drawn almost threateningly, and I saw that oh so familiar glint in her eyes.

The same glint that my father's eye held, just before he slapped me; that sick, twisted pleasure at seeing someone else suffer.

I'm not sure which was the stronger emotion; fear or anger, but either way, both fuelled the out of control magic that little children have. Except in my fury I channelled it, glaring with contempt at this bitch, and pointed my wand at the desk, casting the spell non-verbally.

The desk writhed, and I could actually feel it draining my magic. However, it did morph and change, and there before me sat the most adorable puppy ever. Well, it was a bit odd; its fur was the same colour of a snow tiger, but it looked like a puppy. I walked over to it softly, cooing, and picked it up. It wriggled a bit, but settled against me.

I grinned and turned back to the professor.

"Problem?"

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for disobeying a teacher."

Shouts of protest rang through the classroom.

"She didn't disobey you!" Potter shouted, enraged. I turned my glare on him

"Potter, shut up. Right now. Or else." I hissed. I am not having that idiot get me in detention yet again.

He looked a little put out, but sat down all the same.

Ahh... power.

-#-#-#-#-#-

"I still can't believe she took all those points off you!" Rose said as we left the classroom

I grinned, and un-did my robes. "Neither can I, but hey, I got a puppy out of the deal!" I said, holding up the adorable little thing that had been inside my robes.

Liv and Kiki grinned appreciatively

"That's brilliant! Now she doesn't have a desk either!" Kiki said. Liv nodded in agreement and held her hands out for the puppy

"It needs a name." Liv said "Is it a boy of a girl?"

I shrugged "You look."

"Eww! No way!" Liv shrieked, making the puppy wriggle uncomfortably. Kiki took the puppy off her, hugging it

"Don't look at me. I'm not looking." Kiki said when we all looked at her expectantly. Rose backed away when we all looked at her.

I sighed. "Fine. I'll do it. It's a puppy you lot!"

I took the puppy off Kiki and checked. "It's a boy!" I said

Everyone gave out a little shriek and started throwing names out.

We decided to leave the puppy (still unnamed) with Hagrid until after classes, and he was more than happy to care for him, Hagrid's beetle black eyes going glassy and wide as he gently took the puppy from me. Hagrid's very old boarhound (apparently Fang's a bit like a doggy version of a kneezle; he's got a pretty long life, though he won't last that much longer) seemed to take a liking to the tiger-puppy, much to the amusement of everyone present.

Me and Kiki walked into dinner together, having left Rose helping Liv with her Runes homework, and were startled to hear the hall hush, before snickers and whispers broke out.

I looked at Kiki and she shrugged, so we went over to the Gryffindor table. Potter glared at me, and Fred seemed to back him up. I turned to Mat

"Mat, what on earth?!"

"Er... you've had a baby boy?" he said slowly

"WHAT!?!" I shouted, jumping up from my seat

"Well...uh... it's just a rumour then?" Mat said, looking between Kiki and me. Kiki laughed

"You were in Transfiguration with us, weren't you?" she asked. Mat nodded, looking confused

"The puppy, you idiot! Well... the desk, I suppose, but it's an adorable little puppy now!" Kiki concluded, beaming

"Oh!" Mat said, a look of comprehension dawning on his face. "So why's everyone saying you got knocked up by one of your one night stands?"

I paled a little. I hate it when people call me a slag. Sure, I have no problem with snogging the odd boy in a broom cupboard (or a quidditch changing room, for that matter), but I'm not one for one night stands, thank you very much.

"I don't know why everyone tells lies. Maybe it's part of human nature." I snapped, before storming off.

I ran all the way to Hagrid's hut, stumbling a little on the paved path in my heels, and banged on the door to the hut

"Whoa! Calm yerself down!" Hagrid said when he saw me, letting me in

I picked up my puppy and sat on the floor with him on my lap, leaning up against the wall.

"Everyone just sees my skirt, Hagrid; they never even bother to get to know me. Everyone thinks I got knocked up! Everyone thinks I've had a baby, and I just charmed my stomach so it wouldn't show!"

Hagrid nodded sympathetically as he stirred the tea, before handing me a massive mug full.

I carried on "And the Bogart thing... I'm still not over it."

Hagrid is like the dad I never had. Maybe more of an uncle. But either way, I tell him everything, always have. He was the first one to know about running away, after Liv and Kiki. Although, come to think of it, I hadn't even been to see him, apart from to drop of my puppy. I felt a little guilty.

"Oh, er, well... you know how my family are. Right, well that's what the Bogart turned into. An... and I just stood there while Dad hurt Mum and Emma. Just like always. I stood there, taking it all. I was Ella again, Hagrid!"

He frowned, and motioned with a hand for me to continue

"And then Dad said he would never stop. That's when Ja...Potter grabbed me and pulled me away, and locked the Bogart up again."

Hagrid smiled a knowing smile.

It was slightly... no, scratch that, _very_ unnerving.

"Ah well. I s'pose it'll all work out."

We agreed I would take the puppy up to the castle with me, and keep it. At first, Hagrid said I should get McG to change him back to a table, but I told Hagrid that would be like killing a living creature. At which point, he was fully for me keeping the tiger-puppy as a pet.

I traipsed back up to the castle, still holding the puppy, feeling as though Hagrid knew something that he wasn't telling me. But who knows? He almost certainly does. He's practically the councillor of Hogwarts, I thought with a snort.

It seemed so alien to think that before the Great War, he was feared for what he is.

-#-#-#-#-#-

As I walked through the castle, I received far too many 'funny looks' to count. I just scowled. I simply wasn't in the mood.

"Wallabunger." I told the Fat Lady, who swung forward with a curious stare.

Liv, Kiki, Rose, Mat, Weasley, Potter, Lucy and a few others were still up.

"Guess who's here!" I said cheerfully

"Er, me?" Potter replied arrogantly. I snorted at him and curled up on my favourite chair, holding Puppy closer to me.

I really need a name for Puppy. Because hell as like am I calling the poor thing Puppy for the rest of its days

"Where d'you go?" Liv asked, curious "Kiki said you went off in a huff?"

Mat hung his head "Er, sorry about that. She stormed off because I got a severe case of 'foot in mouth'." Mat said, looking pleadingly at Liv

I smiled slightly "It's alright Mat. I'm just a little sensitive about that kind of stuff."

"Well... Still, I'm sorry."

We all fell into an awkward silence, punctuated only by Lucy and Potter playing chess.

"So, who wants to choose a name for this little guy?" I asked

Lucy looked up, and squeaked loudly, as though she'd only just noticed Puppy

"Oh my god, Dannie! He's adorable! Can I hold him?" She asked, leaving a disgruntled James alone by the chess set

I smiled and handed a sleepy Puppy to her, and she took him gently, holding him as though he was extremely fragile.

She cooed at him

"He looks like an Eric to me." Rose said suddenly into the silence

We all laughed, but she was being deadly serious.

"What? It's a cute name!"

I looked at Puppy, asleep in Lucy's arms.

I had to agree with Rose. For some reason he did look like an Eric.

"Alright. Eric it is." I said

"Hey Eric!" Lucy said softly, looking at the puppy who was now Eric

It was one of those 'Aww' moments. I motioned for everyone to stay quiet as I cast the photo charm that would freeze the moment forever.

I grinned as the silvery, slippery substance tumbled out of the end of my wand. I picked it up carefully and blew softly on it, waiting for the magic to set.

Neither Lucy nor Eric had noticed anything, which made it all the better.

I laid the now opaque picture down on the table and we all crowded around to look at it, walking as the photo Lucy softly stroked the photo Eric's black and white stripy fur.

I grinned. A copy of that was going in my shoe box under my bed.

In the end Lucy went to bed (more like forced), leaving Eric with me once more.

Mat went down to the kitchens to get the house elves to make some food for Eric, and Liv went with him to 'help' him.

Ah the irony.

Fred Weasley had a mass of parchment in front of him, and he was biting his lip in concentration. It was an odd expression to see on that boy, I have to say.

Kiki looked pretty interested in what the parchments contained, but Fred was very secretive.

"In other words, the Idiot Group is planning again?" Kiki stated

I nodded grimly, and then felt the ever familiar feel that I get from a good idea. It makes my eyes go all sparkly. I smirked my famous crooked smirk, and gave Kiki a meaningful look.

At which point I remembered Rose saying she wanted to talk to me yesterday

"Ro, do you want to talk now?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow at the red head who was staring pensively into the fire

"Hm? Oh, er, yeah."

I blinked. Rose Weasley is losing the Ice Queen exterior! Everyone thank Merlin!

"James!" I said at the dark haired boy who was engrossed in a dusty old book

He looked up in surprise

In fact, everyone looked at me in surprise. The roof was silent; not even Fred's scribbling filled the room. Even Eric had stopped his random snuffling (who knows what puppies dream about?)

"Did you just call me James?" asked the boy in question, in an almost reverent voice.

I blinked

"Oh, er, slip of the tough you know, Potter?" I said hastily "Anyway, me, Rose, Kiki and Eric are going upstairs now. So please tell Liv when she gets back?"

With that I sprinted for the stairs without a single backwards glance.

-#-#-#-#-#-

_All done. For the moment, anyway. _

_I hope you enjoyed it. _

_Once upon a time a reader of this fan-fic reviewed, and then a unicorn appeared out of the jam jar the reader kept their spare tadpoles in, and granted the reader a wish._

_The reader wished that anyone who reviewed this chapter would receive a uni-wish-corm as well._

_Ashi _

_xxx_


	8. Mission: Malfoy

_okay, just to warn you, this chapters got sensitive issues in it. If you can't handle it, please don't upset yourself by reading it._

_Have fun and remember that the best candy comes from strangers!_

* * *

Once I was in the dorm, I took a deep breath and stroked Eric lightly. He'd been whimpering, presumably due to the sudden increase in velocity, but he calmed down soon enough.

I sat down on my bed and felt my mind wander dangerously close to bloody James Potter yet again.

I groaned, and looked up at Kiki and Rose.

"Anything you want to tell us, Miss Locket?" Kiki asked, hands on her hips

I scowled "What are you implying, Miss Angelou?"

Rose smirked and butted in "Well, well. It seems not even the infamous Daniela Locket can resist the Potter charm after all."

"When did we ask your opinion, Miss Weasley?" I asked, trying to turn the Spanish Inquisition into playful banter.

Kiki raised an eyebrow that plainly said 'we will talk later.'

I sighed in relief. That gave me enough time to make up a good excuse.

I sat Eric down on my bed and smiled as he took wobbly puppy steps over to my pillow, curled up and fell asleep again. I guess it's pretty tiring being turned into a puppy when usually you're a desk.

I lay down on my bed, staring up at the canopy. From the corner of my eye I saw Rose and Kiki both lie on their own beds as well.

"So, Rose, what's the grand plan?"

"Well, I've been thinking. When Malfoy gets a detention, all it does is boosts his 'bad boy' persona. It makes him seem cool. Taking points is a bit pointless, no pun intended, because he wins twice as many as he loses, both on the quidditch pitch and off." Rose paused, letting that all sink in

"So, armed with that information, what do you think is the most important part of Malfoy's confidence and arrogance?"

Kiki looked a little confused, but I caught on pretty fast

"That's brilliant, Rosie. We just have to give him a taste of his own medicine."

Rose smiled a truly Slytherin smile.

"So, any ideas on Mission: Embarrass Malfoy?" She continued

Kiki stroked her chin. She's usually the one who's good at this kind of thing. Mind you, if Liv gets in one of her moods, she'll quite happy to plot just about anyone's downfall.

We all lay in silence, thinking, until Liv came in, walking slowly, balancing a jug of pumpkin juice in one hand, some cookies in a bag which she held in her mouth, and a bag of puppy food in the other hand.

I giggled "Liv, you're a witch, you idiot! What are you doing trying to carry all of that like that?"

She pouted "You know it never tastes as nice once you've put a spell on it. Anyway, cookies anyone?"

She handed the food and drink out, and I watched her carefully. Something was up. She's been my best friend for too long to hide her feelings from me like that.

"Hey, Livy, you want to talk now or later?" I asked her in a hushed voice so the others wouldn't hear

"I don't know what you're on about." She stated

I raised an eyebrow at my frowning blond friend

"You so do, Liv. Don't make me brew up some veritaserum."

She mock gasped "You wouldn't!"

"Wouldn't I?" I dared

We both laughed, and turned back to the main conversation

Liv, as predicted, was quite happy to plot just about anyone's downfall, and her mood (no matter how well denied) was just making her even more vicious.

"Well, Malfoy's always boasting how he's invincible, perfect and gorgeous. So we need to take all of those away from him." Rose said. Liv looked at her thoughtfully

"I guess. But I recon we can divide Malfoy into just a few categories. The girls he gets and his looks that go with it, his family and his rich daddy, his quidditch career and perfect broom, his great school grades and his icy, indifferent, cool, perfect mask."

I smiled. This was Liv at her best.

"Okay Livy, but that's quite a lot to be dealing with." Kiki put in, trying to keep us all attached to earth. As usual, we brushed her off.

I had a bit of an epiphany

"Why don't we, as a group, adopt an alias, so it seems that there's only one person doing it, yet it'll be all four of us. That way, the alias will look more powerful. We don't want to actually physically hurt Malfoy, because he could just get daddy to sort us out. No, we need to get himself to embarrass himself."

The room silently looked at me, Liv munching away happily.

"Okay, an example, we... send him a little box. You know, like a present. Every time he tries to open it, it vanishes. And then it pops up again later on. So he basically has a little box stalking him. He can't get at whatever's inside the box, and we make the box pop up at really obvious, public points in time. You know, like at dinner in the Hall, or in the middle of Divination when Professor La-la Land is wittering away and all the girls have stopped listening to the lesson and are either watching Malfoy or Potter. Then...'poof!' a little box appears."

I stopped, grinning madly. The others looked at me in a sort of worshipful manner.

"Okay, so that's the first one we're doing, yes?" Liv asked, pulling out a load of parchment and a quill, and began writing everything down. Liv and I rolled our eyes. Kiki always does this with any pranks we pull.

Mind you, Kiki is so good at covering our tracks, there's not much me and Liv can complain about, really.

Still, it's a talent that she can make anything as exciting as this sound like History of Magic homework.

Rose grinned at us, almost looking a bit tearful

"You have no idea how grateful I am that you three have taken me under you wing and are looking out for me."

We grinned at each other. This called for the Line

"And that is what girls do best!" The three of us said, perfectly synchronised after six years practice.

That's the line that we came up with in first year after Potter pushed me in the lake.

We decided that if Hogwart's was having another set of Marauders, then there needed to be a Lily Evans there to sort the big headed pricks out.

Although, we all vowed _never_ to do a Lily Evans and fall in love with one of those idiots.

Kiki looked down at her plans with far more concentration than is ever spared on school work.

"We're gonna need a trip to the library."

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

"Shit, shit, shitty _shit!_"

"What, Dan? Shut up, alright?" Rose snapped. I have a feeling breaking the rules didn't sit too well with this Weasley, which is pretty ironic, if you ask me

"No, Rose, we're in deep do-do." I whispered back, edging towards the restricted section

This was completely true. I'd left my wand on my bed, along with Eric, so he could have chewed it to splinters by the time we got back. But that wasn't the most pressing problem. I listened carefully, trying to hear the noise again.

Kiki looked up from the book she was reading and cocked an ear, trying to hear what I had already picked up.

"There's someone else in the library!" I hissed

"What, at this time? It's half two in the morning!" Liv said, sounding confused

"I don't really care _why_ they're here, because they are! Now take the books you need Ki, and let's get gone!"

I could hear the muffled footsteps getting closer and closer. Why couldn't the others hear them?

But the girls seemed to get the message. Kiki grabbed the armful of books, Liv taking the ones Kiki couldn't carry; Rose extinguished her wand light and I scanned the library just in case I could see the other person, but it seemed empty.

We scurried back up to the dorms, giggling and laughing about the 'voice in the library'

Well, it wasn't a voice, but voice fitted better than 'strange, oddly muffled, uneven pattering footsteps in the library'.

"Wh...W... Who's t...t...there?" came a voice, making us jump

I looked round. There stood the new caretaker, a young, weedy man from Durmstrang. He'd only seen me.

"Go!" I hissed at the other three. They all looked at me with wide eyes, but turned and ran as told.

I felt my nose scrunch in disgust at what I was about to do

"Oh! Thank goodness! You have no idea how wonderful it is to see you!" I gushed at the now red caretaker

"Oh...er..."

"I was so terrified! I've been lost of _ages _now. It's awfully scary in this big, dark castle, all alone, don't you think?"

And yes, if you're gagging, I'd like to tell you that I was too.

He puffed out his chest. I bit my tongue. Really hard.

"Ah well, young lady. I'm here now."

I disguised a snort as a cough

"Oh Merlin! I've caught a cold as well now!" I whined

The caretaker took a step closer to me, and I had to forcibly remind myself not to step back.

"Here, let me warm you up, sweetest..."

He reached out to grab me. I jumped back. He didn't even seem to notice, and took another step closer, until I was backed up against the wall.

I was beginning to regret telling my friends to run.

I bit my lip in concentration, it's a habit I've always had. He seemed to think I was trying to be... ugh... _appealing. _

He was far too close; I could smell his BO and his bad breath and see the dandruff in his hair.

What is it about Hogwarts that attracts disgusting caretakers? I mean, Filch, who retired at the end of last year was... well... yeah. Everyone knows what Filch is like.

And then we get lumped with this freak! I don't even know his name.

I shall call his S. This way we incorporate the idiot's advances on me, and his stuttering.

He reached a hand up to stroke my face and I nearly puked on him. His hands were freezing cold and all scratchy. I shivered and shrank back closer to the wall. He laughed

"You like that?"

I felt my eyebrows rise up

"Er, I have to get back to bed." I said desperately "Sir."

He laughed again, a horrible, twisted sound. "Well, I can't let you go unpunished now, can I?"

I felt the sudden whoosh of fear that I get when the situation turns too far. Annoyingly, I don't usually feel like Ella when I'm at Hogwarts, but recently, I have been.

He grinned a sadistic smile and drew his wand. My eyes widened in horror. He waved it, casting a spell that he muttered under his breath.

At first I didn't even notice a change, and I began to think that the spell had failed. Then he stepped back, satisfied, and to my horror, something dragged me to him. He'd attached himself to me somehow!

"No, no, no!" I muttered "This is not happening to me!"

The once stuttering boy who was so in my power now had a glazed, far-away look on his face, and his eyes were locked to, well, my boobs.

How the hell was I getting out of this one? I didn't even have a wand with me, stupidly enough.

"Sir! Let me go!" I hissed, trying to scare him into letting me free

He was marching along one of the long forgotten passage-ways, heading Merlin-knows-where. He didn't even acknowledge that I'd said a word to him, but eventually he turned and threw me against the wall in the dusty, dark passage. He cast a silencing charm over me.

I felt a tear threaten to fall. But Dannie doesn't cry, no matter how much like Ella she feels. I sucked it back in.

"Now then... where were we?" He said in a horrible, fake-deep voice. I silently squeaked in terror

I physically couldn't get away from him. I'd never felt so trapped in my life. His eyes stared unabashed at my figure, and he ran his hands down my jaw line, down my neck, lower and lower, unbuttoning my shirt as he went. His finger stopped at the point in my bra where the two cups were joined.

He grinned and shoved his finger underneath it, snapping it in half, leaving me exposed. He ripped the rest of the shirt off, popping buttons in all directions. He flung it in a ball in the corner. By this point I'd given up on not crying, and tears streamed down my face.

His eyes were still glazed, unfocused

He held my wrists by my side, hard against the stone of the wall. He leant his face closer and closer to mine, and I turned away, struggling against him, but he was stronger than me, pinning me under him.

He was kissing me, his face scratchy and harsh against my soft skin, it made my skin crawl. It was simply disgusting. And no matter what I did, I wasn't strong enough to get rid of him.

He pulled away, reaching into his pocket for his wand. He waved it, casting a spell that should have been way too advanced for what everyone expected from this man. Suddenly I stood, in the freezing cold air, wearing nothing but a pair of skimpy, lacy pants. His eyes locked on my figure as I stood there, crying my eye out, but silently. All my life, I'd done everything in my power to be in charge, and now this person had taken all that from me in an instant.

How fragile was my life?

He grabbed me around the waist and pulled me into him, and the sickness feeling intensified as I felt his tight trousers against me. I struggled against him even more violently than before.

He lent down and bit me. I yelped from the pain, but obviously no sound came out.

I could feel the blood trickling down between my boobs.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?!" came a shout. The caretaker didn't even notice. His eyes were still misted over.

I couldn't see who it was in the dark. I couldn't move either. The person who had shouted yanked the caretaker off me, but of course the spell meant I was flung as well. I heard the person growl, and draw a wand

The spell was cut and I fell backwards, completely drained. My hands flew up to the bite, just at the point where my collar bones made a hollow under my neck. I wiped my blood away with one hand, the other covering my boobs. I heard various thumbs and shouts, but I wasn't really paying attention.

I felt something warm drape over me as I sat on the floor, rocking myself.

Someone crouched down next to me

"You alright?" came the question, the voice soft and gentle, husky.

I didn't respond.

The person with the nice voice flicked his wand a little, and then muttered in annoyance. Then I felt the horrible, thick feeling of a silencing spell being lifted, and I could hear my sobs.

The person put an arm around me and drew me closer, warming me. My whole body shook with fear.

"Shh, Dannie, it's okay. Everything's going to be fine."

"No. No it's not." I heard my voice reply, cracking

* * *

_Sorry that that's a pretty horrible chapter._

_review please! Was it too much? Who's the voice? What about the Mission: Malfoy? Good idea? lame?_

_tell me!_


	9. Meeting the Parents

_Heggy heggy ho! (hello) _

_Sorry about the last chapter being yucky. _

_This one's pretty much just cute. _

_It's definitely a filler chapter though, and Dannie talks about her past a lot, so if you get bored, I'm sorry! _

_If you get _really_ bored you can probably just read Dannie's part in the character list._

_Oh, and that reminds me, I need to update the list, do I not?_

_Hahaha I sounded posh. _

_Have fun! _

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

The person next to me whispered 'Lumos'. His face was thrown into the light, highlighting his creased frown, his searching, worried eyes and his all too recognizable Potter hair.

I didn't really think about the fact that the only thing I was wearing in front of him was a pair of pants. My mind was far to ravelled up in the recent events. I'd never been abused that way before. I knew of the effect I had over men, don't misunderstand me, but I had never, ever been in that situation before, or felt so helpless.

I felt like Ella as I watched James stand up, put a full body bind on the caretaker and kick him soundly in his stomach.

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

I'm not sure how long we sat in silence, punctuated by my sobbing and his shushing, but in the end I felt him shivering.

"You're cold!"

He shrugged "So were you, when I found you."

I fingered the material that was just visible in the gentle wand-light. It was school robes, which James had clearly thrown on in a hurry, as he was only wearing pyjama pants, his chest bare.

I suppose, in retrospect, in any other situation I would have been impressed by his body, not that I'd not seen it during quidditch training in the summer months, when the boys got hot and thought they looked good taking their tops off. But, hardly surprisingly, I barely spared his abs a glance.

"Cast a warming spell?" I said after another minute of silence.

It's hard to tell in the dark, but I think James blushed

All the same, he cast the charm, and the air around us warmed considerably, warming us as well. His shivers slowed, and then stopped all together.

"He... that..." I started, not really sure if I wanted to talk, but knowing from experience it was bad to bottle things up.

"Hey, shush. I know I'm probably the last person you want to talk to. I mean if you want to, go ahead, I'll listen, but I'm guessing you'd rather talk to Liv or Kiki?" he said softly

For some reason I felt rejected

He noticed me stiffen next to him "Oh! Dannie, that's not how I meant it. It's probably best, if you can, to talk, you know. Bottling it up won't help."

I knew he was right, of course, but I was so overwhelmed with emotion it was scary. Firstly there was the sheer terror and panic. In some ways this was the most simple of my emotions, and I was well used to it. Though it was a horrible feeling, it was one I could deal with.

Then there was the surprise. How had James known where I was? How did he find me?

And then there was the horrible guilty feeling. I'd been nothing but horrible to James the whole time I'd been at Hogwarts. And yet he'd (however he managed to find out where I was) obviously rolled out of bed, at almost three in the morning, probably later, and found me. And now he was sat with me, to make sure I was alright

And then the betrayal. Why hadn't Liv and Kiki and Rose stayed up and made sure I was alright? I know I told them to go back, but I'd have waited up for them! Why hadn't they waited up for me, and come to find me?

What if they had come to find me? And were now wandering the halls, lost, cold and exhausted?

I looked at the silhouette of the caretaker, in a ball on the floor.

"He bit me." I whispered

James's eyes widened in shock "What?"

I nodded "He made me bleed." I showed him where I'd been bitted, and I heard his sharp intake of breath

"What?" I whispered

"I have to speak to my dad. Now."

He looked terrified. I felt the panic lick at my self control

"What is it?"

He rubbed his neck cautiously

"Just... stand up. Come on... we need to go and find my dad. Are you alright? Can you walk?"

I nodded wrapping his robes tighter around me.

"James? Can I borrow your wand?" I asked, still speaking in whispers

He nodded and handed it to me. It was a nice, supple, swishy wand, but the core wasn't right for me. All the same, it worked well enough to cast the charm I needed.

With a flick of my wrist I was stood wearing boyfriend fit, washout jeans, a big, oversized dark purple hoodie and some white plimsolls. I hugged the hoodie closer to me.

This is my Ella outfit. The one I wear when everything gets that little bit too much, and I need a big, snugly, comfortable hoodie and I don't feel enough like Dannie to wear heels.

"How can you do that?" James asked, looking impressed

I shrugged, and handed him his robes (shrunken, folded and cleaned) and his wand back. He took them, muttering a surprised 'thanks'. He put an arm around my shoulders, much like an older brother, and lead me out of the passage way, kicking the caretaker once again as we went past.

Once we got out into the usual corridors, and the light, he turned me to face him, his eyes scanning my face carefully. His face softened (how cheesy does that sound?), and he gathered me up, smoothing down my hair gently.

I stood there, a little alarmed at this sudden embrace, but touched that he cared for my safety.

"Come on. My dad can fix this." He murmured into my hair.

I nodded, my usually perfect curls flopping dejectedly.

He took my wrist gently and lead me along Merlin knows how many passage-ways, until we reached a blank wall. "Stand here." He told me, before striding back and forth in front of the wall.

On the third time past, a door appeared. I let out a little 'Oh!' of surprise. I'm not used to someone knowing more about my Hogwarts than I do. The girls and I pride ourselves in knowing all the routs of any use in the castle. Yet already, James Potter had gotten me horribly lost.

He gestured for me to go inside. I baulked; he expected me to go into a random room, after the whole caretaker thing? Was he mad?

He seemed to understand, because he smiled a little sadly at me before stepping inside first.

The room was a massive kitchen, clearly from a big, rich house hold, yet it still held the little personal additions that made it seem homely. It wasn't a lot different to my own kitchen, to be fair. There was a big, bay window seat, which I went over and sat in. The window, to my surprise, looked out onto a lake that stretched way out into the distance.

The house smelled of home. It smelt of sea salt and fresh air and cookies. The herbs handing from the ceiling were fresh and gave off an unusual smell that tasted of safety.

I rested my head on the glass and watched the lake in the half moon's light.

James went over to the fireplace and used the floo.

I wasn't listening in to the exact words, but it sounded as though it was his mother, and at first she was shouting at him. Then she calmed down, and was extremely apologetic. The next thing you know, BANG! You have the most famous couple in the Wizarding world, rushing towards you, armed with hot chocolate and a cinnamon and apple muffin.

**(A/N: this is almost exactly how I imagined the Potter house to be: **.?minPrice=3000000&radius=40.0&pageNumber=2&premiumA=true&backToListURL=%3FminPrice%3D3000000%26radius%3D40.0%26index%3D10 **Just pretend the tennis court is a quidditch pitch ;] )**

I flinched away. Family is a big taboo. James noticed, though his parents didn't.

"Mum, Dad, calm down! You're scaring her." He said.

I could feel myself bristle. He was talking about me as if I was some kind of wild animal, a bird, if you will, that he had found and brought to his parents in a box.

Ginny and Harry stopped instantly. Harry looked at his son carefully, but James was frowning, looking at me as though I was about to break down and cry again. Ginny looked caught between doing a happy dance and crying herself

Harry ran a hand through his hair nervously. I smiled slightly at that. At least I know where James gets it from.

Ginny sat down on the window seat as well, handing me the mug of hot chocolate, which I took carefully, and held it close to me.

The fumes coming off the drink were calming, and I took a big, gulping breath and looked up at Ginny.

She was a truly beautiful woman, and age hadn't yet damaged that, although I wondered why not. If I'd been a mother to Albus, Lily and James, I'd have probably ended up with grey hair and wrinkles like an elephant. She was a redhead, like myself, but my hair is a darker, almost purple-y red, whereas her's is a proper, Weasley red. She had big, brown eyes that were gently lined with dark lashes.

Harry Potter looked a lot like James. Unnervingly so, in fact, although James seemed to pull off the 'hot quidditch player' look as opposed to the 'saviour of the wizarding world' look. Also, Harry's eyes were the same as Albus's; a startlingly vivid green.

I sniffed carefully at the drink I'd just been handed. There didn't seem to be anything odd in it, and veritaserum seems a little OTT, so I took a sip.

I smiled lightly

"Calming drought. You could have said you know."

Ginny blushed slightly and I smiled crookedly at her

"Where are we, by the way?" I asked, looking around with interest

"James! This is a guest!" Ginny scolded

James smiled sheepishly and looked at his dad, as though Harry would bail him out

"I don't think so mate. The couch is nowhere near as comfortable as it looks." Harry said with a grimace. James laughed at him, and Ginny smacked his arm playfully.

I took another sip of my drink

James plopped himself down on the floor, leaning against the island in the middle. "Well, okay then. Mum, Dad, this is Dannie Locket, and Dannie," He paused and stole a bit of the muffin off his dad "This is Harry and Ginny Potter, my parents. Although you already knew that."

He said the last part with a smirk. I narrowed my eyes at him

"What have I told you, Potter, about fame, families and being an idiot?"

He grumbled into the floor

"Was that a sorry?"

More grumbling

"Am I going deaf, Potter?"

"No. Sorry."

I smirked in triumph. At the time I didn't notice the exchange of smiles and meaningful glances between Harry and Ginny.

"And to answer your question, Dannie, we're in the room of requirement, although at this point in time it's taking the form of our kitchen, although it's a lot tidier and a lot less chaotic than the real version." Harry laughed

"No way! Everything in the library on the room of requirement in the library, and all the paperwork hidden in McG's office tells you the RoR doesn't work anymore! I even asked Dumbledore and he said it didn't work!"

I though back through all my memories of second year, when we first learnt about the RoR. Kiki's mum said something about it, and told us where it was. Suddenly I recognised all those corridors in the castle.

That caretaker must have dragged me a long way, because we a far further into the left wing than I thought.

"Besides which, I know how you're meant to open it, and I know where it is, so why wouldn't it open for me?" I whined

Potter looked at me in confusion

"How would you know? Aren't you, Liv and Kiki just the slutty ones?"

My eyes widened in shock at his sudden insult. If I hadn't had that calming drought I would have probably blown a gasket. As it was I stood up, handed my mug to Ginny, walked over, bent down and slapped him, hard across the face.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"What do you think it was for, Jamsie-poos?"

He rubbed his now very red cheek

"Er, calling you a slut?"

"So if you knew it was an insult, why did you say it?" I asked "And here I was thinking you were going to get away with it because you're too stupid to realise calling a girl a slut is an insult."

Ginny and Harry were glaring at their son in a way that said 'are we even related?'

He picked at the muffin

"This, James, is why we don't get on. One minute you're saving me, the next minute you're calling me a slut! It's no wonder you only keep your girls a week!"

"That's not fair! I stayed with that Hufflepuff...wats-er-face... you know... the blond one with big boobs, Well anyway, I was with her almost a month!"

I slapped him again

"And anyway Dannie, you can hardly say your track record is any better, can you! I don't think you've even lasted a week, yet you've been with more guys than I care to count!"

There was a tinge of hurt in there, and I took a tiny step back. Hurt was the last thing I expected

"Well then, if I don't call you a man whore, you won't call me a slut, agreed?"

He huffed

"Say it..." I threatened

"Fine. I'm sorry I called you a slut."

"Oh wow Jamesie! You said sorry of your own accord! This time though you needed to say 'agreed'. Think you can manage that?"

He raised an eyebrow at my snide-ness

"I think you owe me an apology too." He said

I blinked

"I'm sorry?" I said in a quiet voice, almost more of a question than an answer. I was feeling rather nervous

He blinked

We looked at each other in shock. Since when did we apologise to each other?

What the hell?!?

I sat back down on the window seat, taking the mug Ginny handed to me again and sipping from it.

"I'm sorry, Mr Potter, Mrs Potter. I'm not normally this... moody. I've had a pretty bad week."

"Do you want to talk about it, Sweetie?" Ginny asked "Any please don't call me Mrs Potter! I'm Ginny, and Harry's Harry."

I nodded nervously

"Okay, well. Er. Only Liv and Kiki, my two best friends know all of this. And it's pretty difficult to tell, so please don't interrupt unless you have to. I'm gonna take it a bit like waxing a leg. Rip it off faster and hope the sting goes sooner.

"As a very little girl I remember my family being a constantly happy place. We lived in a very modest muggle council house, and I never knew about magic. The only people who weren't as nice to me as I hoped were Grandma and Grandpa. They live in a massive mansion, and were snooty and cold towards the whole family. By that I mean myself, my mum and my dad. My parents returned this harshness, and so we only saw them when we had to. Mostly that was at celebrations such as Christmas. In all fairness, Christmas was always a pretty difficult time.

"When I was six, my little sister, Emma, was born. I remember the first time mum let me hold her. To me, Emma became the world. Everything that I did, I did for Emma. I think my dad almost resented the sudden and strong connection between the two of us, but mum just said it made us all the more lovable. Then when I was eight, we found out about my mum.

"It was midsummer's night, hot and humid, and she called her parents, Grandma and Grandpa, round for dinner, at short notice. That in its self is a death wish. Anyway, they came, and we all sat around the table and ate a very tense and mostly silent meal. Then suddenly Mum blurted out "I'm dying'. Grandma shouted at her for being over dramatic and mum burst into tears and fled from the room, picking Emma up and taking her with her as she went. Dad then finished the story.

"It seemed my mum had been feeling off for weeks, so she'd gone to the doctors and had some blood tests, then some scans, some more tests. Eventually the doctors had found the rare and terminal disease that she had. I'm not sure exactly what it's called, because we never, ever talked about it. But I know what it does. It causes your heart, over an undetermined time span, to go into spasm. This deprives your body of oxygen until the spasm is over. Basically, her body is self destructing. Thankfully, by the end, she should be so insane from her brain being oxygen starved that she won't realise she's an inch from death.

"I'm not sure when the change was in my dad. Maybe it was Emma, maybe it was finally knowing my mum was dying. But he turned to drink, often coming home too drunk to even walk. He started to blame me for everything, venting all his hatred for the world onto his eight year old daughter. As I got older he got more physical with his anger, often, as you saw, James, he would shake me violently, and sometimes making me pass out. It was the same with my mum. He'd start gently rocking her, calming her, but the anger would take over, and he'd shake her as well. I'd then try to stop him, but it never worked.

"Emma went from being a happy child who never cried to an overly perceptive child who would cry all too easily. If I tried to help her, he'd then tell me I was the reason Emma was so badly behaved; I had led her astray. He'd slap me and tell me to stay away from his daughter.

"Strange things have often happened around me, and as a child, growing up in that environment, did nothing to aid my natural magic. It would often explode out of me at untimely moments, and my dad would beat me for this. The Christmas when I was nine was the first time it ever happened in front of people who understood.

"Grandpa and Grandma took me outside after Christmas dinner. They asked me why daddy's food had attacked him. I said I didn't know, but then added venomously 'that he deserved it'. They looked at each other, and then grandpa got out a silver knife. 'I'm going to kill you' he said, in an unnervingly calm voice. Well, with my anger levels so high, I must have produced a shield of some sort, because the knife turned into flower petals about a foot from my face. My grandparents beamed at me, and explained that the knife was special so it would never hurt me, but it was the traditional way of finding out if someone was magical in our family.

"They told me all about magic. Both my parents are squibs – that's why they met each other. They knew what all the strange things that happened around me were, and yet they never told me. Instead they hated me for it. That was the day I stopped loving my father.

"My grandparents took me under their wing, and I was round at their mansion as often as not. Much though I missed Emma and my mum, being away from my father was too good to miss. They explained all about magic and Hogwarts, and told me how proud of me they were. I went away to Hogwarts, which my parents resented. They'd send me a letter about once a year. I never went home for Christmas, but I would usually meet my grandparent in Hogsmead.

"In the summer holidays I was treated with even less respect. I was considered a freak. And that hurt, a lot, especially when your own dying mother doesn't even try to defend you. It was my third year when the mental consequences from the disease truly reared their ugly head, and she began to lose memories, forget who people were. She forgot who I was.

"My grandparents always picked me up from King's Cross. They seemed to know most of the parents and grandparents there anyway, so I think they enjoyed it as a social outing. I went home to find my father more drunk than I can ever remember seeing him before. He told me he hated me, told me he wished I was dead, that I'd never even been born. He said I was the reason my mum was dying. He said if I wasn't there, he'd be able to teach Emma to be a proper kid again, not just some evil cry-baby.

"And I fell for it. I didn't even un-pack. I told my mum and Emma I was leaving. I told them I loved them, and that I would never forget them. I took Emma's converse shoe, some photographs and other special trinkets in a shoes box, and slammed the door in my father's face. I took the night bus from my home in Derbyshire to my grandparent's in Cornwall, and stood on their doorstep with all my stuff.

"Needless to say, they were less than pleased. They ranted and raved about my 'evil parents', and I felt so special and so crap at the same time. Was it too much to ask for my parents to care about me like my grandparents did? Why couldn't my grandparents have cared about me before they found out I was a witch? Did they only care because I could do magic? What about Emma?

"They gave me my inheritance that night. Which was, not to boast, a hell of a lot. They'd already taken my parents out of their will, and Emma wasn't getting anywhere close to how much I was, even though she was still getting a fair chunk. So they gave me what should have been my parent's money as well as my own. They didn't tell me at the time, and when I found out I tried to give it back. They opened my Gringott's account and set about helping me find a house.

"If I was going back and choosing a house again, I probably wouldn't buy Trelain Manor. It was childish, excessive and just a statement. It's a beautiful, beautiful house, complete with a private beach, but it's only me and the staff who live there. Thankfully, I can get to grandma and grandpa's by floo whenever I want to, and Liv lives in the same village, although in a much more modest house. Liv's parents think I was pretty childish to buy the biggest house I could find, but at the time I needed to just do something selfish for once.

"I tried to go back to my family a month later, when I'd cooled off, and began to see the severity of my actions. I took the knight bus again, but the house where I'd grown up was empty, with a 'for sale' sign above the door. I cried myself to sleep for weeks after that. Since then the only contact I've had with my family was a letter from a mental hospital telling me my mother had been admitted there. There weren't any directions on how to get there, and when I rang them, they told me only family members were allowed to visit patients. I wasn't on the 'family members' list.

"I don't know if you remember, James, but I guess I've always cared how I looked, even when I was in first year I wore heels. Only small ones, mind, but heels all the same. Neither of my parents took any care whatsoever over their appearance, and a bit like my massive house, I just wanted to be not them. So to me, heels are everything. To me, wearing a skirt and having my hair in perfect curls is what my life is about. Having skin that every girl wants and being able to shut any guy up with a wink. Being able to run in heels just as well as I do in flats. Never stuttering, blushing or getting embarrassed. Being 'the girl'. The hot, gorgeous, perfect Gryffindor quidditch player who could have anything she wanted.

"Well that's who I was determined to be. And in a way, I suppose I have that. I am 'that girl', the one who's invited to seventh year parties in fourth year. The one who can smuggle alcohol into the school under the nose of McG and not even have to rely on the fact that I'm a Potter. Everyone knows Dannie. But really? I'm Ella.

"I have everything I could possibly want. I have too much money to ever spend, a perfect house and too many staff. I have grandparents who care about me, whether or not it's simply because I'm a witch. I have Kiki and Liv, and Rose as well now. I have guys begging at my feet and party invites galore. But it's shit."

"Oh sweetie!" Ginny said her eyes full of tears. I laughed a watery laugh. She scooted along the seat and hugged me.

"You hug like James."

I heard chuckles

"Did I say that out loud?"

Ginny nodded against me. I snorted. Just my luck.

"Dannie, I know all about the whole parents' thing, but what about the caretaker?" James asked, looking as though he thought I was mentally unstable

"Oh yeah." I said, suddenly shrinking away from Ginny. In a way, the calming drought, and the safe presence of Ginny and Harry had made me forget about that.

"I...James, y...you tell them." I said, shrinking back into the cushions

"I don't know the full story."

"You know most of it."

James frowned, but shrugged

"Er, please don't be mad? Well, you know the map?" James started

"What are you doing with my map, young man?" Harry said, half angry, half proud

"Erm... anyway, Kiki came up to our dorms at quarter to three in the morning, in hysterics, because one of their little plans had gone wrong. Although she wouldn't tell me what the plan was, or how it had gone wrong, she did say that Dannie had 'sacrificed' herself so that her friends, Rose, Kiki and Liv could escape without being told off. I'm guessing you met Koff, the new caretaker?"

James growled the last part.

I nodded mutely

"So one way or the other, Koff decides it was a good idea to cast a spell on a wandless Dannie, meaning she was physically attached to him. She couldn't move any further than half a foot away from him. Then he stripped her down to just her underwear, and then he bit her."

James's top lip was curled up in an almost feral snarl. He looked pretty scary, with his eyes burning just as they had in DADA after the Bogart.

Harry seemed to snap into Auror mode pretty fast. "Can I see the bite?"

I nodded, shaking. "I've only got a bra on under the hoodie though." I warned

I stood up and took a big gulp of the hot chocolate, finishing it off, and the calming potion with it. I took off the hoodie. Harry walked over, and carefully examined the bit just below my neck. The blood trail had dried into a horrible red line, dividing my body in half. Ginny tutted and siphoned it off with her wand, cleaning the wound with a quick, only slightly painful spell.

Harry frowned "Well, it's not a vampire bite, so that's one good thing, right?"

My eyes widened in absolute horror. He thought I had been bitten by some _creature_!

I whipped round "POTTER! You knew it wasn't _human_? And you didn't _tell_ me? Do you have a death wish, boy?"

He looked me straight in the eye "No, I don't. I thought it was a vampire bite. If I'd told you that, and then I was wrong, you'd have freaked for no reason! I was being nice!"

The contempt in his voice made me snarl at him.

"I don't need protecting, Potter."

"Right son, just a tip, when she reverts to the surname? Shut your trap and agree with her."

"Harry! Leave the two of them to sort it out!"

"Please! I don't want to cause an argument! Don't fight! I'm sorry!" I said, horrified that I'd damaged yet another family

I started shaking uncontrollably.

James's eyes widened. He conjured up another calming hot chocolate and handed it to me silently.

I sipped on it; suddenly realising I was stood with just my bra on top.

"Erm, Mr Potter? Not to be rude, but could you try and work out what bit me so I can get dressed again? Sorry."

"Oh yes, sorry Dannie. And it's Harry, love. Right, let's have a look then..."

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

"Wow! James got lucky this time!" Mr Weasley said, eyeing my bra clad figure and glancing at James with a raised eyebrow

"Ronald! You are being rude! Ginny, you'll agree with me! Isn't Ron being rude?"

She didn't wait for an answer "Ron, you are on the couch tonight! In fact, for a _week_!"

I could feel the shivery, shaky feeling creeping up on me.

James looped an arm around my shoulders, whispering in my ear "They're only messing. Promise. And if they didn't do this, they'd not be Uncle Ron and Auntie Hermione. Bet you he doesn't sleep on the couch tonight."

I smiled and sipped at my drink. It's totally, ridiculously mental that I've told James Potter, of the Idiot Group no less, the story of my life, and even worse, I've told that to his parents as well, and his aunt and uncle, after they flooed Hermione to come and look at the bite, because no one could work out what it was

But the really surprising part is that Potter actually seems to know what's running through my head, even when I don't show it on the outside. He just seems to know what to say.

The only problem with that statement is when he uses this ability to insult me. He knows exactly what upset me and exactly what I was sensitive about. I was vulnerable, and I hated that.

In some ways I was glad that he understood me, but in a hell of a lot more ways it worried me. Plus the fact that I kind of enjoyed being misunderstood. People never knew why I did what I did, and I was safe because of that. It's like with a fidalius, the less people who know, the safer it is. Less links in the chain to rust and break.

The room had turned silent, and I realised all the adults were watching me and James sat on the big window seat, his arm around me, him whispering in my ear, me wearing only my bra. At least I still had my jeans on.

I rolled my eyes

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Me and Jamesie are getting married and I'm pregnant with twins." I said, so sarcastically you could have probably bottled the excess sarcasm and sold it to Madam Longbottom.

The adults laughed nervously. Then Ron piped up sagely

"Well, you never know. Potter men have a thing for red heads."

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

_Thank you for reading!_

_Any ideas on what the caretaker is? How the bite will affect Dannie?_

_What about the Potter and the Weasley family? _

_James? Too fast? Not right?_

_Also, there's a new character in either the next chapter or the one after that... any ideas?_

_As always, a free Eric to any reviewers!_

_Well, that's after I find enough tables first..._


	10. Catch the Snitch

_Hello again! _

_Firstly, I'd just like to say a BIG thank you to all the people who have sent me such nice reviews... It's so good to think that you like my story!_

_As for xc1016, sorry, her hair has always been red, but her's is darker than a Weasley red. Here's a picture of Danni: (it won't let me upload a full address, so ~ means . )_

_www~shimmersalon~com/elumin2~gif_

_Any reviews are always welcome, even if you want to tell me it's rubbish, because if I never know its rubbish, how can I make it better?_

_Anyway, sorry for the yucky caretaker, but it's an important part of the plot line!_

"_Whatever you're looking for is always in the last place you look, because once you've found it, you're hardly gonna keep looking, are you?"_

* * *

In the end Harry and Ron decided to go and find the caretaker. They seemed to know the castle far too well to have been model students.

James whined and winged and begged to be allowed to go with them but they flat out refused. It was pretty funny actually, to watch. Until it got annoying, at which point I shot one of my famous jelly legs jinx at him and laughed myself silly as he carried on pleading even though his legs were now reduced to a wobbling mess.

Annoyingly enough he was allowed to go with them in the end. Despite his legs and irritating moaning. I'm guessing Harry has a soft spot for his first born.

I was a bit nervous about being left with his mum and auntie, but they seemed to realise this.

"Dannie, do your friends know where you are?" Ginny asked

"Shit! They don't! And I've not fed Eric! Hopefully Liv has done. Oh and I promised Rose I'd help her with Mission Malfoy! And Liv was having a bad day and I needed to talk to her! Kiki better have kept the show on the road!"

I slapped myself. How much of an idiot was I? They probably thought both me and James had been eaten by the evil caretaker.

"I've got to go!" I said I made for the door, but suddenly I really didn't want to walk the corridors on my own

"Erm, is it rude to ask someone to come with me?" I asked in a small voice

Hermione laughed "I got the impression you wouldn't want the company! Gin and I'll come with you. Besides which I've not seen the castle for years!"

Ginny nodded.

Hermione wrote a note and left it on the table, and we set off.

Once I got over the initial worry barrier, I had a good time talking to James's mum. His aunt was far too rule abiding for my tastes, but it must just be a front that she puts on, seeing as she probably broke more rules in the war than the original Marauders ever did.

I was a bit uncomfortable with the 'mum type' questions that kept getting asked, seeing as my mum wasn't in any state to ask those kinds of things. All the same, Ginny and Hermione made me feel really welcome as they recounted tales of their days at Hogwarts.

We reached the Fat Lady, and she shrieked "Oh my goodness! It's Ginny and Hermione! How are you, my dears?"

The two of them laughed "We're both good thank you! Sorry to wake you up so late!"

The Fat Lady waved them off and swung open. Both the women shrieked and giggled and ran around the common room as if they were eleven again.

"This is where Harry first kissed me, you know." Ginny said, standing just inside the portrait hole. "It was perfect."

She got a sickeningly dreamy look on her face. I giggled. "I got my first ever kiss here as well, in second year." I said, remembering the rather awkward moment with a wry smile

"Who was it with?" Ginny asked

"A boy in the year above. Called Andy. He was a first class jerk."

"Oh."

I laughed "Its fine. Come on, come up to the dorms.

-#-#-#-#-#-#-

"Oh my goodness! Is that Rose?!"

I stifled a giggle as Hermione looked at her sleeping daughter. Even in sleep it was an astonishing change.

"Yep. Sorry, Mrs Weasley, but Malfoy had been teasing her one too many times and I had to do something. This is stage one in Mission Malfoy. Make him wish he'd never told her she was fat and ugly."

"He said that to my baby?" Hermione hissed "And it's Hermione, please."

I nodded. "But don't worry. By the time we've finished with him he won't be in any state to insult anyone."

"What are you going to do?" Ginny asked as I walked over to my bed and picked Eric up off the pillow, cooing softly at him

The question was momentarily diverted when the two women saw Eric, and we went through the usual Eric ritual of 'oooh' and 'aahhhs'.

Eric opened one sleepy eye, looked at both of them dolefully and shut his eye again. I giggled softly.

"Where did you get him?" Ginny asked

"Er, he's the Transfiguration Professor's table." I admitted. Ginny laughed, making Liv mumble in her sleep.

"That's an extremely dangerous spell you did there Dannie." Hermione admonished. I rolled my eyes

"Well, it's been lovely meeting you. Hopefully we'll see you soon? You should probably get off to sleep now." Ginny said, giving me an Eric squishing hug. He wriggled a bit, and it tickled.

"Don't worry about Koff. We'll sort it all out, alright?" Hermione said kindly. I nodded, feeling myself paling.

"Bye." I whispered. "Thank you."

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

"Oh thank Merlin, you're alive!" Was screeched into my ear

"Go AWAY!" I growled

Something was licking my toes. It tickled, so I squirmed, and kicked. A small yelp, and then a thump followed.

"Eric! Eric, are you okay?" Liv asked urgently

I sat up, to see Rose and Kiki sat either side of me on my bed. Liv was crouched down on the floor, holding Eric carefully and talking to him urgently. He didn't seem even slightly bothered that I'd kicked him off the bed, though I felt pretty guilty.

"Where the hell did you go?" Kiki demanded

I burst into tears

Liv handed Eric to me silently and glared at Kiki

"Oh my god, Dannie, what happened?" Rose asked her eyes wide. I don't think she'd ever seen my cry before, in all six years of sharing a dorm with me

I hugged Eric closer to me, smiling as he looked at me in surprise.

"It was awful!" I wailed

"Come on sweetie. You know you can talk to us when and if you want." Liv said, patting my knee reassuringly

I shook my head

"Fetch James." Rose demanded

Liv raised an eyebrow, but Kiki sighed and got up off my bed, slipping out of the room.

We lapsed into silence

There was a knock on the door, followed by Kiki, who was dragging a very sleepy James by the wrist.

James seemed to wake up when he saw me crying, and with a little 'oh!' he sat down next to me, where Kiki had been sat, and put an arm around my shoulders, drawing me closer to him.

At first I flinched away, but then relaxed. Much though I hated to admit it, I felt safer.

I wiped the tears that had fallen on a bemused Eric off him

Everyone looked at me expectantly, but I shook my head. I didn't want to talk about it. I couldn't talk about it.

"You want me to tell them?" James whispered into my ear. I paused, but then nodded. My friends had the right to know, even if I couldn't tell them.

"Right. Well, Kiki, when you asked me to find Dannie, I, er, well, the Marauders have their ways..."

I gave a watery laugh "If you mean the map, we knew about that in third year."

James blinked, his eyebrows doing a strange jig on his forehead

"Oh. Okay. So the map showed that she was in the corridor on the fourth floor with the statue of the drunken wizard. The one where it looks like he's about to throw up. Anyway, she was with the new caretaker, Koff. So I left the map with the boys and went to find her.

"When I got there, Koff had her pressed against the wall, wearing only some black lacy pants. She was struggling like mad, but couldn't get away from him. So I yanked him off her, only to realise the reason she couldn't get away was because he'd put a spell on her which bound her to him. He'd also put a silencing charm on her.

"She was shivering like mad and as pale as a ghost. It turned out he'd bit her."

There was a universal gasp of horror from the girls and they all rushed to hug me.

I felt more confident then, so I carried on "James lent me his wand and I dressed in my dark purple hoodie, boyfriend fit jeans and my white plimsolls."

Kiki and Liv's eye widened. They seemed to grasp the severity of the situation. Rose looked a little confused, but I didn't feel like explaining.

"James took me to the room of requirement, which turned out to be his kitchen. He flooed his parents, who came and gave me a calming drought, and talked it through with me. Harry looked at the bite, but couldn't work out what it was, so he flooed Hermione and Ron, and they came as well. They still couldn't work out what the bite was, so they decided they needed to find Koff. Harry, Ron and James went off to find him, as James had put a full body bind on him and left him in the corridor. Hermione and Ginny brought me back here."

"Oh honey, we're so sorry!" Liv said, wrapping her arms around me. James shifted uncomfortably

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

I sat at breakfast, finally looking like Dannie again, eating a green apple. It was a truly beautiful apple, a perfect, unblemished, bright green. The flesh of it was crisp and crunch, a perfect white, just like snow.

It was sour, the sweetness as a back taste. To me, that made it even better. It had a kick to it, it wasn't just beauty.

I looked up from my apple at the people around me. Rose was beginning to put some of her own tastes into our make-over, and it suited her much better than our interpretation of what she should look like. I guess that's something important to remember, especially for the 'Fairy Godmother' business. No matter how good someone else does it, it's not as good as your own.

I'd not seen James or the Idiot Group since the morning

The morning lessons passed in a blur of confusing emotions, and if I'm honest, I'm glad I have a Quick-Take Quill (A quill that's a bit like the journalist ones, but this one simply writes down exactly what is said, rather than a load of waffle) because if I didn't, I'd have no idea what I did in those lessons.

At lunch Mark came storming over

"Where the hell were you yesterday, Locket? First you turn up to try-outs in stupid heels, and then you miss the first session of the year! You don't even have an excuse! Behave like a team member or GET OFF MY TEAM!"

Then he stormed off again. I slumped down on the chair closest to me. That was, simply by chance, next to Lily Potter.

Lily's the cool, calm, collected Potter that no one messes with. Whether that's because they're scared of her older brothers or of her, I'm not sure. Either way, Lily Potter is not to be messed with, despite being three years younger than me.

"Trouble in paradise?" she asked

"What paradise?" I said, confused.

"Well you know. Being the most popular, prettiest, cleverest girl in school who's amazing at seeking and has my brother wrapped around her little finger? Ring any bells?"

I laughed nervously. What was she on about?

She smiled a rare, genuine smile and left the table, taking a blood red apple with her.

I looked around the hall and my eyes locked onto Scorpius Malfoy, who was laughing loudly at something one of his minions had said. I smirked. Perfect chance to gather information for Mission Malfoy.

I grabbed another one of those perfect green apples, pushing my half eaten salad aside and walked over to where the middle Potter was sat, along with his best friends, Sunny Longbottom and Iris Zabini.

The three of them were inseparable. They've been likened to the closeness of Harry, Hermione and Ron. Both Albus and Sunny should have been Gryffindor, but they weren't. Iris's brother, Mark, was my quidditch captain (evil cow), but Sunny hadn't strayed from tradition, and had been sorted into Slytherin.

If I'm honest, the three of them weren't that bad, but they were so close they often intimidated others.

"Hi everyone!" I said brightly. The three of them (and other people around them) looked at me in first surprise, then in suspicion. Bloody Slytherins. Never believe anything you tell them.

"What are you doing over here?" Albus asked, neither cold nor welcoming

"Coming to talk to you three!" I chirped

Sunny raised an eyebrow "Since when have you ever talked to us before?"

"Yeah, and if you think one of us will be your next Barbie doll, like Rose was, you can think again. None of us want to be plastic." Iris added with a sneer

My eyes went wide with hurt. How could they say that? I was doing Rose a favour

"Well. I'm sorry. I only did that so Rose wouldn't get teased by Malfoy! She used to cry herself to sleep every night you know. Now she's happy and bubbly and outgoing. She _asked_ me to help her! And she's your cousin, Albus; shouldn't you be the one protecting her?"

Albus, Iris and Sunny all snorted and rolled their eyes, exactly at the same time. If I wasn't so hurt I would have been laughing my head off.

Then they turned back to their conversation and carried on as if I was never there.

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

Half way through the last lesson of the day, DADA (bla bla waffle...waffle bla bla...) McG poked her head around the door and Liv elbowed me pretty hard (just to wake me up, she wasn't being mean).

"Can I speak to Miss Locket for a minute?"

I got up in a daze and walked outside the door, following McG to the heads office.

I remember back in first year when me, Liv and Kiki all got sent there for dropping dung-bombs on seventh year Slytherins after they teased us. We'd all been so impressed with the room with all its portraits and crazy whirring, buzzing things.

I sat down in one of the chairs (I've sat in it so many times that it's practically mine) and took the biscuit that she offered silently.

"Are you alright, Dannie?" She asked. I looked up from my ginger newt in surprise.

I shrugged. I didn't really want to talk about my shitty life right now.

"I had a visit off Harry and James Potter, and Ron Weasley last night."

I think I went pale

"They had the new caretaker with them, bound, disarmed and unconscious."

I burst into tears.

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

I smiled slightly as the wind teased trails of hair out of my messy bun. Sure, Mark was being a bit sharp with me, but there was no denying how wonderful quidditch was.

When I'm in the air, I can forget about everything and anything that I need to. Usually I can do that when I run, but I hadn't run that morning (I know, shock horror!) so I'd missed out on my usual calm-down session.

I steadied my broom (one of the best ones you can buy, because what's the point of having a big inheritance if you don't use it?) about 50 feet in the air, scanning the pitch. I watched little Lucy playing.

Ever since Harry Potter was let onto the team in first year, first years have been allowed to try out, and if the head of house agrees, they are allowed onto the team. Apparently it was unfair if the famous Harry Potter got special treatment. All the same, she's done amazingly to even be considered.

True, she wasn't quite as steady in the air as the more experienced players, but she did have a natural talent. She seemed to be very good at tactical playing, and it didn't take her long to work out the other player's weaknesses and strengths. She was weaker on her right side, but she seemed aware of this and played it so it didn't affect her.

Similar to chess, the one player she seemed to struggle to work out was James. She had Mark down pat in under ten minutes though. The three of them seemed to work well together, and Lucy had the definite advantage that none of the beaters wanted to hit a bludger at her because she was too small, too cute and too vulnerable.

"CONCENTRATE, LOCKET!" Mark bellowed at me

I grumbled under my breath and swung my broom around. It was pointless, seeing as I would spot it when I did, I couldn't rush it. Besides which, I'm not half bad, if I do say so myself. There's nothing wrong with having a moment to think about my crazy life during a quidditch practice.

I spotted it only a few moments later though; it was really high up, way higher than I was. It was flickering in and out of view in the grey September sky.

I turned my broom directly upwards and shot after it. It was acting weirdly, not dodging and swerving like usual, but just going higher and higher in a straight line away from me.

I growled in frustration. I was so high up that the air was freezing cold, and the snitch was still going strong.

I couldn't even hear the rest of my team, and the air was feeling thinner in a weird sense, but then again, I'd never been this high before.

What on earth had happened to the snitch? Why had it suddenly decided to go so high?

The wind was stronger so high up, and I was being buffeted off course, but I put on an extra spurt of speed to make up for it.

The snitch was also loosing speed, high up in the freezing atmosphere, and I could see the wings on it buzzing seductively, teasing me to lean out and catch it, but I knew I was still too far to reach it. Just a little further...

I felt my hand clasp around the freezing metal, and I let out a scream of pain as my skin fused with the blisteringly cold metal. Then I was falling, in both senses, feeling the blackness at the edge of my mind swoop in and smother my thoughts, just as I could feel my body going faster and faster, closer and closer to the ground.

Yep, it really has been a bad week for Dannie Locket. Sometimes I wish I wasn't me.

* * *

_Dannie really is having a bad first week isn't she!_

_So why was the snitch acting so weird?_

_What about Albus, Sunny and Iris? Meanies? Know something Dannie doesn't?_

_Mission Malfoy doesn't seem to be going anywhere... does it?_

_How about James and the Idiot Group?_

_Dannie's forgotten about Liv's problem... and she seems to be drifting from their friendship?_

_Kiki's closer to Rose than Liv would like?_

_How about that promise that James made to help Dannie find Emma? It doesn't seem to have happened..._

_What did McG want to talk to Dannie about? Have they found out what Koff is? How will the bite affect Dannie?_

_Mark's not the nice, friendly captain Dannie had hoped either_

_So... all in all, Dannie's got quite a bit to be dealing with at the moment, without James suddenly being nice, then being mean again..._

_Pretty please with marshmallow fluff, nutella, toffee sauce and Sloosh on top, REVIEW? (Mmm... major Sloosh craving...)_

_Ashi_

_Xxx_


	11. Onde

_Okay... _

_Firstly: here it is! Finally!_

_Next: I'm sorry it's been so long since I last updated, I've been in and out of hospital for a while, but hopefully I'm at home for a while now... fingers crossed!_

_The one after next: I hope you enjoy it... the plot thickens! You didn't think it was just a fluffy, James Potter/OC fic, did you?_

_Sorry to disappoint. Although...wait, if I tell you, I'll give _everything_ away._

_Well, most of it._

_Anyway, enough ramble, especially as most of you lot probably don't even bother to read it. I know I mostly just skim author notes (I know... it's very rude of me)_

_As always, your support brightens my day...and a review is almost as good as getting Eric for my birthday!_

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

I woke up feeling like normal. Honestly, I would have gone for my morning run, gone down to breakfast, gone to lessons, everything, if I hadn't been in the hospital wing.

I groaned and rolled over, blinking in the bright, white, sterile environment.

Sprawled over the chair next to my bed was Liv, her mouth hanging open, head lolled back. It was a pretty funny sight, to say the least.

I giggled. Then stopped, because giggling hurt.

"Wha! Uh...OH MY GOD!" Liv shrieked.

"Ow!"

"Oh, sorry Dan. I can't believe you're alive!"

I blinked. Gee, thanks, bff.

"Madam L!" Liv shouted

Luna drifted over, but even she seemed to snap out of her fairy land when she saw me.

After various potions, test and general prodding, I fell back to sleep again.

But this time, I had nightmares.

It was dark, too dark to just be night time, and I was trapped. Trapped somewhere, and I had to get away. I struggled and screamed, but I couldn't more.

Then I realised I could sense someone else in the dream with me. Don't ask me how I knew, because I don't, and I've never felt that before.

The presence wasn't friendly, not at all. It was pushing against my...mental barrier? I'm not sure how to describe it, but I felt so violated, so attacked.

Normally when I have a nightmare, I can just snap out of it, wake myself up as soon as I realise it's not real. But this time, this _presence _stopped me. It was trapping me in my own subconscious.

The stupid part was that I didn't even know why I was scared. I'm not scared of the dark, and I never have been. The presence was horrible, but I had been scared before I'd sensed it.

I felt someone grab my arm. It felt as alien as the presence in my mind had only minutes before. Now, it seemed normal (though still horrible) to be grabbed in your mind, but absurd to be grabbed physically.

My eyes shot open, and I gulped down deep, gasping breaths.

Liv, Kiki, Rose, Grandma, Granddad, James and Lucy all crowded around me.

I burst into tears.

I seem to be doing that quite a lot lately.

"Give her some space!" Rose ordered

"Who do you think you are, coming in here and ordering us around?!" Liv demanded

Rose's eyes watered, and she ran off. Kiki looked disdainfully at Liv, so Liv got in a huff and stormed off in the opposite direction. Kiki shrugged apologetically at me, and then dithered around for a while, before running after Rose.

Lucy watched all of this, wide-eyes, holding James's hand. It was pretty cute, if you ask me.

Not that James Potter is cute in anyway shape or form. Lucy is though. Maybe it's excess cuteness, wearing off onto Potter.

I did not just say that.

James pushed Lucy forward, and she carefully sat down on the edge of the bed. I budged over to make room for her.

"You fell a long way." She said, looking rather pale

I smiled lightly

"I guess I did, Lu."

"You guess? Do you have any idea how close you came to dying?!" Potter fumed, that look on his face. I shall call it Bogart/Koff/Broomstick look.

"Whoa. Calm down. You look like you're about to murder my broomstick. Wait, is my broom alright?" I panicked

"You're worried about a _broom._ Are you _mad_? Do you have any idea how long you've been unconscious?"

"Er... since last night's practice? And yes, I am mad, but you already knew that."

Gran looked at me, as the silence grew, and then spoke up in a tiny voice

"No, Honey, you've been out almost two weeks"

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

"I don't want a calming drought!" I whined

I'd had enough of people pouring potions into me. I just wanted out. And I had so much catch up to do that there was no way I'd be able to do it all if I didn't start soon. The problem was that no-one knew why I had been unconscious for.

It turns out that the quidditch pitch had a special charm placed on the ground beneath it, so that it would cushion any fall.

Unfortunately it doesn't protect falls from over a certain height, and I was almost twice that height.

Oops.

Also, my whole world seemed to be crumbling. My family of friends was held together simply by me, and that wasn't going to last. It simply wasn't, and I had to face that.

I'd not told anyone about the dream. I'd lied and said I'd dreamt I was falling again.

Mark came to see me, looking more tired and worried than I'd ever seen him. He ran a hand through his hair and sat down on the end of my bed

"Dan, I don't know how to put this, but the first match is in a week's time. I don't know if you'll be able to play. I'm so sorry."

I gaped at him for a moment. What the hell! I never miss a match! More importantly, I never miss a snitch! We'll lose if I don't play!

"Mark! You can't do this!"

"I'm sorry, Dannie, I really am." He patted my knee and left the infirmary.

I cried.

I'm getting really emotional at the moment.

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

Madam L said if I kept up with all my medication, and didn't 'over-exert' myself (or catch any minkywangers) then I'd be fine.

But no, I still had to stay another night.

Bitch.

Liv came to see me, and I have to say, I know I'm her best friend, and I'll be there for her no matter what, but I've been in hospital for two fricking weeks! And you know what she comes to tell me? That Kiki is a bitch, and Rose is an evil, scheming cow.

Wow, thanks for your support Liv.

Rose came, but she stood by the door, listening, unnoticed by Liv, as Liv wailed on and on about Rose being a cow.

Rose didn't even bother coming in to speak to me. She just stormed off. I think I would have stormed off as well.

Kiki didn't even decide to grace me with her presence.

Which bring me to the next problem? The nightmare.

What the hell was it? Because, I know I'm not exactly normal, but I'm not that strange. Unless I hit my head pretty hard, which is always possible?

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

"You'll be alright, won't you sweetie? You've got that lovely Potter boy." Gran beamed at me. James stood in the door way with Lucy (she seems permanently attached to him now), shifting from one foot to the other, looking like the poster boy for awkwardness.

I smiled at my Gran. Crazy old bat. Ha! My Potter?! I bet there's a rather evil, scheming god up there somewhere, laughing their head off about Kama.

Still, if Granny wants to pretend she's gonna get little Jannie (as in James and Dannie -- Ja-nnie) kiddies running around, and a big, white wedding, then who am I to burst her bubble. She is the one who provides the inheritance, after all.

How horribly Slytherin of me.

"Of course, Gran. I'm not about to die you know." I told her

Behind her both James and Lucy grabbed at their throats and pretended to crumple to the floor, dead. When my Gran span around and demanded to know 'what this nonsense is', James had put on a flawlessly perfect face, and claimed he had been 'helping poor little Lucy up off the floor. She's prone to falling-over-nothing-disorder'

Even my granddad cracked a smile. He seemed to have gone very quiet, which was a bit worrying, considering how loud he usually is.

"Anyway, me and Granddad need to get back, alright? If you need anything, anything at all, just floo or owl us, alright? We're here for you even if your parents aren't."

With that Gran strode out of the room, her robes billowing a bit like Professor Dumbledore's, dragging an apologetic Granddad behind her

Potter sniggered "Yes, Dan, you'll be fine. You've got your Potter."

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Right, if you're gonna stand there anyway, you can fill me in on what I've missed."

He sighed dramatically at Lucy, as if she held all the answers. She giggled at his ridiculous antics, before dragging him over towards me. She sat down on the bed and turned her big, shiny eyes on me expectantly.

James sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face, sitting on the floor by the hospital bed.

"Well, when you grabbed the snitch, we're not really sure what happened, but anyway, you screamed, and then fainted. Obviously you fell off you broom, and plummeted towards earth. No one heard your scream; you were too high up and far away from us. The next thing we know you're too close to the ground to do anything in time. Everyone's in hysterics and you look like a rag doll someone threw out of their cot.

"We all ran over to you, and you looked a complete mess. Honestly, if I hadn't seen you breathing and felt your pulse, I'd have said you were dead. Anyway, we levitated you up to Madam L, and she poured a load of potions and spells into you. Pretty much all of us stayed with you for the first week, but then your grandma came and shouted at us all because you were in a coma, so obviously you wouldn't know if we were there or not. Or something likes that anyway.

"After that we just came up after dark and snook in to see you instead. Liv and Kiki were the only ones that they allowed in to see you. Liv must have fallen asleep while you were there, and then you woke up! There you go, a week in the life of Dannie Locket. Wait! Two weeks!"

I groaned, slapping my hands across my eyes and sinking back into the (disgustingly-hospitaly-smelling) pillow.

There is someone up there who hates me.

Or the devil got bored and decided I would be fun to play with.

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

I woke in the morning with a strange word in my head. It was as though I'd always known the word, but just never...known it.

Onde.

Just that one word, and no links as to its origin, nothing. And I know I'm a pretty spontaneous person, but coming up with random words?

That's almost as strange as that other dream I had.

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

The next morning I was finally let free. I left the wing early, desperately needing the run that I had been deprived of for far too long. I was looking pale and sickly, and I didn't want to look like that.

My run wasn't as refreshing as I had hoped, but then again, I did go on my own, and I had been bed ridden for two weeks. And yeah, Madam L made me promise I wouldn't do anything strenuous for another couple of weeks, but running isn't that strenuous. Not compared to... battling a dragon!

I walked into breakfast, and the hall went silent, everyone watching me like I was about to go up in flames. It was pretty embarrassing, especially when Liv was glaring resolutely at her cornflakes (which were going soggy... yuk), Kiki was spending half her time hugging a snivelling Rose, and the other half of the time glaring at Liv.

"Morning!" I chirped into the silent hall as I sat down in the (big) gap between Liv and Kiki

No one replied. I huffed.

"Fine then. Don't mind about me! I'm only your best friend! I'm only the one who's there for you no matter what! I'm only the person you can trust with your life! What's gotten into you two?!"

When they still stayed silent, I grabbed an apple and my bag, and stormed off to the dungeons. I would just start potions a little earlier than everyone else.

I took a deep, steadying breath, and stepped into the classroom. It was empty, and a lot spooky, but I'm not about to let my fear get the better of me. I'm not about to let...Koff... stop me from being me. I'm not afraid of being alone. Alone. Alone.

I set everything up with shaking hands, but relaxed once the toxic fumes of the brewing potion filled my nose. I was doing just fine. This was probably just an extended 'train ride' argument, and Kiki and Liv would both cry and get over it and we'd all be bffs again by the end of the week.

Yes, that's all it was.

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

Potions had dragged rather, and I'd mad two potions in the time the rest of the class made one. Slughorn was impressed, but I could see the question in his eye. Sure, I love the subject, but I'm not enough of a Ravenclaw to turn up to lessons and do the work way before even the teacher got there.

I ignored him when he tried to get me to stay behind, saying I had to speak to McG immediately.

Which wasn't a complete lie, seeing as I did need to see her about all the work I had to catch up, but just not immediately.

Walking down the stairs by the astronomy tower, I saw Albus, Sunny and Iris again. I smiled brightly at them, assuming that Al had just been in a bad mood that morning. No such luck. Sunny and Iris gave me a half smile/grimace thing, and Albus just plain glared at me.

"What?" I asked, completely bamboozled

Albus paused for a moment, all the muscles in his neck tense and tight. I frowned. What had happened to the middle Potter?

He seemed to struggle to say something, but then his face blanked out, like someone had turned off the Albus part of his brain. He looked like Liv when she goes off into Liv Land during History.

He marched straight past me, not looking at my eyes, rather straight ahead. Sunny and Iris copied him, but even they couldn't keep the slight grimace off their faces.

Hurt, I carried on my way to Herbology.

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

And so the week went by. Me struggling to catch up and keep up with the suddenly massive amounts of essays and homework, Liv flipping everyone off (apart from her latest boy toy, a rather gorgeous Hufflepuff), Kiki and Rose being joined at the hip and flipping me and Rose off, Mark being mad at me for no reason, even though at quidditch practice I was now treated as if I would break at the slightest touch.

Things had been awkward between me and James, mainly because just when he was being nice, he would go into Prat...oh, I'm sorry, I mean Potter mode.

I was just about tearing my hair out over him. I knew he was capable of being a very true and good friend, and I knew he would put others before himself; I was living proof of that. Yet just when I thought I'd figured out why he acted why he did, he'd go and mess up all my tactics. He seemed to play life just as he played chess.

That was one thing that was a rock in my life. Lucy. And stupid though it may seem, the little first year was honestly the first person I would go to if I had a problem. He big, sincere eyes, and her ability to listen and not judge made her a better friend than her years suggested.

Oh wait! And Eric! That adorably adorable little transfiguration table! Honestly, if I didn't have him to talk to, I'd probably go mad! He's taken over where Liv and Kiki left off, listening intently to all my stupid little worries, and my slightly more important bigger ones. He's the person I ask when I need to know which shoes to wear, and whether or not I look fat in this.

Shame all he ever does is look at me with his adorable big puppy-dog eyes, and licking my face.

Yeah. Bring on the sanitizing gel.

* * *

After Friday night's practice, I flopped down on my armchair in the empty common room. Kiki and Rose were up in the dorm, doing homework (I know. _Kiki_ doing _homework_). Liv had gone to the Hufflepuff dorms, to 'talk' to her boy toy, whose name I can't even remember.

Normally, Liv won't shut up about the lad of the week, but now, she hardly talks to any of us. She speaks to Polly a little, I think, but mostly she's gone into Barbie overdrive, and her life is so shallow you couldn't drown a Flobberworm in it.

And believe me; you can drown a Flobberworm pretty easily. I would know. I did a project on the care of Flobberworms in my third year. Hagrid gave us each one. Mine was called Arnold, and I wuvved him. But he died, because when I gave him his water in a little dish, he went and shoved his head in the dish, and couldn't get out. It was all very sad.

Moving swiftly on.

Lucy was obviously asleep (it was about quarter to ten, and she is only little), the Idiot Group (it's been ages since I called them that you know) were on a 'detour' whilst coming back from the pitch, Mark had stalked off to work out some more tactics (what is it with quidditch captains?!), The new beater, Jack, had also gone up to his dorms, to play exploding snap (wow, what an exciting life he has...)

I flicked my wand and accioed yet another essay that I had to do. This one was DADA, so I didn't mid too much, but it's still no fun to think that I'm spending my Friday night sitting in a common room, doing _work_ because I've fallen out with my best friends, I've not had a boy for _weeks_, and my life is frankly shit.

Woo freakin' hoo.

Maybe I could just burn myself to death in the fire.

I settled down and did my essay. It was (and I hate to say this) quite interesting. But then again, I've always loved doing DADA. There's something about it which just fascinates me. What kind of person thinks these curses up? Who decided one day that it would be a good idea to make a spell that could kill? How does it work? Why does it work?

See? Fascinating.

Also, it does give me a legitimate excuse to hex people.

After DADA I dragged out my Divination, and sighed yet again at the thought of Kiki, who would usually be writing three dream diaries, not just one.

Similarly, both mine and Kiki's Herbology grades were falling. Everything that I'd planned was looking less and less likely.

There didn't seem to be any Fairy Godmother business. There wasn't going to be any more playing on my beach, or teasing Kiki about sexy princes, no more joking about my ridiculous inheritance, my love of heels and my need for shopping. No more drinking until we were too drunk to put a glass to our lips, no more sharing stories of boys, no nothing.

I shut my eyes, running a weary hand over my forehead. That's when I felt it again. When I shut my eyes. That feeling I'd had whilst dreaming in the hospital wing. When I'd woken up and Kiki and Liv had their big argument.

Except this time it was different. I wasn't trapped in the dream world; I had control of my thoughts and feelings. At first I panicked, but slowly I calmed down, seeing as stressing wasn't making it go away. Sometimes I _can_ be rational you know.

As I focussed on the feeling, I began to realise that this time, there was more than one there. I could guess at about three. It was hard to tell, as two of them seemed a similar... flavour, if you will. There was definitely one that wasn't the same; it had a mellower, more thoughtful. The other two were both much bolder, more... in your face. One of them though seemed to have a more follower kind of approach, where as the other was quite clearly a leader.

I focused on the leader one. For some reason it was a very familiar, comforting feeling, as though I knew it well. I felt safe knowing it was there, which surprised me, seeing how scared I had been of the sensation at the start.

The whole thing seemed a little like riding a bike. Once you can do it, you can do it. Up to that point, you flounder around in confusion.

I seemed to still be floundering. Story of my life, really.

I peeled my eyes open, looking into the empty common room. I frowned, almost certain that there should be someone there. Well, three someones.

I frowned, and stood up, stretching. The skimpy lace of my top rose up, tickling my flat stomach, my short shorts just covering my bum.

Truthfully, I know I may be a bit of a... slut, but I didn't plan on anyone seeing me in my PJs. I'm not _that_ cheap. When I heard a slight gasp, I span around, my eyes widening in surprise as I took in the still empty room.

I blinked, and as I did so, I felt the presences again. Once my eyes were open, it was gone.

So then I shut my eyes completely, and tried using that sense to get around instead. And true to where the noise had come from, that's where I could sense them.

I walked carefully over to the frozen beings. They either couldn't move, or had chosen not to.

I was beginning to feel myself as a being as well as the other three. But only when I concentrated, similar to how you don't really see yourself unless you look. I reached out with my being to touch the foremost presence, which was the not leader, but similar to leader one.

After a bit of careful testing, I was able to... reach out with my being, touching the not leader.

"SHIT!"

I yelped, and yanked my eyes open. Nothing there. Out of curiosity, I shot a hand forward, towards where I supposed the beings were. And, to my absolute confusion, my hand hit something hard. Fumbling a little, I managed to grab whatever it was, and pulled it towards me.

As opposed to dragging a being towards me, I dragged an invisibility cloak off of the Idiot Group.

"Wha...?...How?...er..." Fred said. He was stood at the front, so I'm guessing he was the not leader being.

Mat seemed to be the one in control of the situation, surprisingly. James was just stood there, gaping like a fish.

"Erm, Dannie, how come you're over here? You were sitting on the chair all the way over there only a few seconds ago." Mat said, frowning

"Yeah, we know you're fast, baby, but that's ridiculous." Potter added. I snarled at him

"I've never been, and never will be _anyone's_ baby."

He held his hands up in surrender "Alright! Keep your knickers on! Actually..."

"Ugh! Potter! Shut the fuck up for a second, _please_!"

He looked a little startled about the outburst, but it was pretty tame considering what I could have done.

"Okay, Mat, how long was the time between me being sat on the chair, and me grabbing the cape off you?" I asked

"That's what I was saying. There wasn't really any noticeable time difference. You've not got a Turner, have you? You know, for studies or anything?"

I shook my head, eyes wide and mind buzzing.

"Oh."

I nodded grimly. "I remember walking over though. I had my eyes shut."

"So how did you get over here without falling over?" Weasley asked

"That's not important right now, Idiot!"

Fred rolled his eyes. I was starting to panic. It's not a good day when you find out you can... stop time? Oh yeah, and you can sense people as beings as opposed to people when you have your eyes shut.

"Go to bed, boys." I said, faintly, before shutting my eyes, and using the sense to guide me out of the room, through the portrait hole and off down the corridor. I knew they'd know where I was; they had the map, but at least I'd have a head start.

My bare feet slapped on the freezing stone slabs, and I cast a heating charm over myself, cursing my stupid, skimpy, lacy, revealing PJs that I was about to visit McG in. Oh the shame.

She opened the door in a tartan dressing gown, tight lipped, dark eyes, and hair up in baby pink hair rollers.

Yeah. I did _try_ not to laugh.

"Sit down, Miss Locket. Have a biscuit."

She thrust the tin at me. It was clearly not an option. I took a ginger newt, sniffing at it inconspicuously, checking for some sort of potion.

Although if she'd spiked them with veritaserum, I'd not be able to smell it anyway. Gulping, I took a tiny bite and chewed on it, relaxing slightly when I didn't feel any changes.

"So, Daniela. What's the matter now?"

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

_Well... all done for now! _

_Surprised? I was! The story seems to have rebelled rather strongly against the plan... but rules are made to be broken, so who cares right?_

_Well, apart from my English teacher, who constantly waffles on in his strong Scottish accent about how time spent planning is time spent well._

_Or something like that anyway. I usually fall asleep half way through the register._

_Er... if Mr McGreggor is reading this, please don't fail me just because I fall asleep. It's a hard life for a student, you know._

_=/_

_Review!!!_

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V


	12. White Line

_OMG!!! It's happened!!! I've updated!!!!_

_I'm soooooooooooo sorry for the wait!!! But to make it up to you... this one's almost nine and a half thousand words long!!! (Ever noticed how writing numbers in letters they look more impressive?)_

_Anyway, I'm pretty proud of myself for writing that long a chapter – it's over twice the amount of some of my others!!_

_Hope you like it!_

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

After my little talk with McG, she had openly gaped at me for a moment.

So I figured whatever it was, it was pretty serious. Mind you, I'd only told her part of it. She knew that now, when I shut my eyes, I could still...see. Well, still get around a room without any trouble. I just told her it was like I could still see, but differently. She didn't need to know about me being able to sense _beings_, right? It's probably just a phase I'm going through.

She knows that when I'm using this extra sense, I can either move so fast that the time difference isn't noticed, or I stop time all together, which according to her, is impossible. Or at least, I shouldn't be powerful enough to stop even a nano-second of time, never mind about a few minutes.

It would be like trying to hold back the ocean, or stop the moon. It was possible, if you had enough magic and were powerful enough, but seeing as not even Merlin himself could do either, it seemed highly unlikely that I could.

All the same, she couldn't deny the facts. However I was doing what I was doing, I was doing it. If that makes any sense.

"Well, has anything like this ever happened to you before? Even in, say, dreams?" She asked, after a moment of silence.

I felt my blood run cold. She knew?

I shook my head slowly, deciding that blatantly lying was the easiest option. "No..."

Her lips thinned, but she didn't contradict me. She sighed heavily, and stood up to riffle through one of the many bookcases in the room. Eventually she pulled out a tiny book, about the size of a pocket organiser, and started flicking through the pages. She seemed to settle on one page, and began reading.

I sat there in silence. Out of simple curiosity, I shut my eyes, testing to feel her presence. I could sense it immediately, but it took a few moments for me to process the sense I was getting from it, to work out what it meant.

Similar to the leader presence in the common room (was that Mat or James?); McG seemed very much an 'in charge' sort of person. She was a lot more... complex than she appeared, it seemed, as I was struggling to work her out. It was a bit like a crackly TV.

I tried letting this sense flow outwards, further than it already was. At first it did just this, and I'm guessing it got as far as the first door to the headmistress's office, but then it hit a boundary, which was painful to try and break through. I grimace in annoyance.

Still, when it wasn't working I huffed, and opened my eyes.

McG must have heard my slight intake of breath as reality caught up with me. It felt like when you're on a broom, when you're really high up and then you suddenly drop into a dive, and you fall for just a second before you catch up with the broom.

Apparently, according to Jack, it's like a rollercoaster.

I've never been on a rollercoaster. Mum was always too ill to take me, Dad was never my choice of friend, Emma obviously couldn't, and Gran and Granddad were both purebloods, who turned their noses up at anything like that.

I'm gonna put 'rollercoaster' on my life plan.

_Life Plan:_

_Figure out what this crazy stupid time/being thingy is_

_Work out if I can really stop time_

_See if I can change time i.e. go back/forward, and if so, how?_

_Practice the whole 'being' thingy, and get through that annoying barrier_

_Work out what the snitch was, who cursed it, why it made me faint, why I was out for so long_

_Work out if the bite affected me, and if so how. Find out what Koff is_

_Where is Koff anyway?_

_Work out what the dream was all about. Was it even a dream?_

_Try to work out if McG knows about more than she's letting on_

_Help Lucy find some friends her own age, so she doesn't have to be around Potter_

_Stop Potter corrupting Lucy. Actually, that's probably a bit harsh. All's fair in *beep* and war_

_On the subject of *beep*, write letter to Gran, explaining that Potter is NOT my Potter_

_Slap Potter for his ridiculous 'knickers in a twist' comment_

_Thank Potter for coming to see me in hospital even though Liv and Kiki didn't_

_Sort out Liv and Kiki. Oh, and Rose_

_Find out why they suddenly changed_

_Whilst people changing are on my mind, there are a few Potters who aren't acting as they should:_

_James – one moment he's a prat, the next he's being *shudder* adorable_

_Albus – what the hell's gotten into him? Have I done something wrong?_

_Lily – what was she on about the other day in the Hall, with the whole 'perfect life' thing?_

_And then there's Emma._

_And James helping me find Emma, but that seems to be a bit of an empty promise right now._

_Win all the quidditch matches, so everyone stops expecting me to end up in the hospital again_

_Enjoy the party; find a boy toy for the night. My rep is going downhill fast. Oh Merlin I sound like Liv._

_Send a letter to Gran and Granddad, so they don't worry about me_

_Eat some Sloosh. _

_See a unicorn. _

_Go on a rollercoaster._

What more could I want out of life, I ask you?

* * *

I sat there for hours, while McG read and reread that tiny little book. I had a match in the morning! Fine, it was against Hufflepuff, so we should be absolutely fine, but that's not the point!

"Er, Professor? Please can I go to bed? I have a match in the morning?"

She waved me off, without even looking up. Well aren't her Friday evenings exciting?!

I grinned and got up, bounding out of the door and along the corridors. The head's office always made me jumpy. I think it's all the eyes moving in the portraits. It's too many eyes!

I skipped around the corner, to see the head girl, Sarah Robson, prowling towards me.

Busted springs to mind, rather.

In my panic I didn't even remember I could shut my eyes, and the logical rule of 'I can't see you, you can't see me' would actually apply.

I froze for a while, watching her dark shape near me

"Out after dark, again, Locket?" she asked with a small smile, and a quirk of an eyebrow. Sarah knows me pretty well, but she's a Slytherin; there's bound to be a catch somewhere.

Not that I'd found a catch with the rather eccentric, rather Ravenclaw-y girl. She was your typical Hermione Granger, perfect grades and adored by teachers. However, her friends seemed a little less... friendly than Ron and Harry. To tell you the truth, they were shit scary.

I smiled weakly "I guess, Sarah. Please don't kill me..."

"Nah. I'd have your Gran to answer to."

I laughed a little. She was right there. With my Gran being a Slytherin, and Granddad also, they knew almost every Slytherin kid out there. Apparently, before the war, this would have meant a lot of feuds and fights between me and them, but they seemed to take it all in their stride and not worry that I was in the rival house.

"So, what's your excuse this time, Dan?"

"Er... well... There was this wragglybot, down in the charms corridor and me being a wonderful student, decided that I would go and... Remove it? See... they can be quite dangerous, you know! Fatal, even!"

"You know, I just might have believed you if I hadn't heard Madam L telling a first year last week that if he saw a wragglybot, he should embrace the wragglybotness, because wragglybots are a bringer of good luck and omens. Sorry, Locket, that was a shit excuse."

I groaned. How was I to know that wragglybots existed? Even if they only existed in Luna land?

"Okay. I had to see McG. I think I've suffered enough tonight already!"

"Alright... but you'll have to get the drinks from Hogsmead for the next Slytherin party."

I pretended to think about it for a moment, but frankly that's so, so easy. You just have to ask the house elves.

"Deal." I said, and then flounced off before she could change her mind.

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

I got back to my room to find Liv sat on my bed, cross legged, crying her eyes out, stroking Eric.

I stopped in the doorway, eyes wide.

"Er, Liv?"

She looked up, startled

"I'll just go, I guess. Sorry." She said, dejectedly

I felt guilt surge through me. Had I caused this?

"Liv, wait. I'm really sorry we fell out. I don't even know why we were arguing!"

"You don't even _know_?" She shrieked, going defensive. Eric wined and shoved his head under my pillow. Clearly his ears didn't agree with Liv's shriek either.

"No! That's not what I meant. Well... it is... but it isn't. Argh! Liv, just accept the apology, yeah?"

She looked affronted. I scrubbed a hand over my face. What had gone wrong?

"Okay. That was a bit harsh. I'm just... Oh I don't know!"

And then I burst into tears, crumpling onto the floor. Liv let out a little 'oh!', and then she came and sat on the floor with me, wrapping her arms around me and hugging me like she did when my parents chucked me out.

I sobbed at her for Merlin knows how long, but eventually, my wails calmed to pathetic little sniffs

"Dan, you always will be my best friend, even if we argue. No matter what, Fairies forever, right?"

I gave a small watery chuckle at this. When we were in first year, Hagrid had shown us fairies as our first Care of Magical Creatures lesson. For ever after that, CoMC has held a special place in our hearts. How soppy.

Anyway, we decided fairies were quite literally the bee's knees, so when we finally became friends with Kiki, we decided to call our little group 'Fairies'.

I'd pretty much forgotten all about that.

"Forever." I agreed.

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

Neither of us slept at all that night, despite what I'd told McG about needing to rest for the match.

We gossiped and giggled and snook down to the kitchens and ate Sloosh and cookies and laughed at how stupid we'd been, and cried about Kiki not being with us yet. Although we both already knew it would only be time. Hopefully.

"So... who's this boy toy of yours?" I asked, smiling slyly over a pint glass of Sloosh

She giggled and _blushed_. And this is Liv the unblushable here.

"He's... adorable!"

I raised my eyebrows and smiled at her, surprised. That's a bit different to the usual 'hot!'

"Tell tell!"

"Well... he's a Hufflepuff seventh year, called Andy. You probably know him through quidditch; he's a beater. I've kind of known who he is for a while, but never really looked twice at him, because he's the quiet, good boy type, perfect grades and all. And you know me; usually the worse behaved the better. But don't get me wrong, that boy is _hot_!"

Ah. There we go. It is Liv after all.

"So... apart from being the 'good guy', he's no different to all the others?" I asked with a knowing smirk. Because frankly, Liv _does not blush_.

"Er..." She laughed weakly

I munched on my cookie. The silent treatment is far more effective on Liv than anything else

"Okay. Fine. I really, _really_ like him. Like more than I've ever liked a guy before."

She blushed faintly again. I felt so glad right then, that Liv had finally found someone who she actually likes, not just a toy, as all of the others had clearly been.

I needed to meet this Andy guy.

"So, how long's this been going on for?"

"Well, it was hte first week we got here. I was going to tell you lot, but there was so much going on with you that I didn't want to complicate things."

I laughed "Liv, that wouldn't have complicated things! But I though you and Mat..."

She suddenly looked pretty dejected "Yeah. He's not as nice as he seems."

"What?"

"He called me a slut, said I was cheap... he was so horrible to me, all because I asked for help with my transfiguration homework! This was after I couldn't get help from either your or Kiki. Up until then, Andy had just been a rather gorgeous friend. I was waiting for Mat, I guess."

"Aw, Livy! You know you're not a slut, right?"

Well, I guess you could call her a slut, once upon a time, but I think she's growing out of it now.

"Please don't tell anyone though, Dan." She asked, suddenly looking worried

I felt a twinge of sadness. This argument, no matter how over it now was between me and Liv, had caused a bit of a bump in our friendship. She never needed to ask me to keep her secrets before now.

"Course."

After we'd finished all our snacks, we decided to go out for a bit of good old pranking fun, seeing as we hadn't really done anything against the rules for quite a while now.

Thing was, the one person who needed a good pranking right now was Kiki and Rose, but we both felt a bit too guilty to do that. After all, neither of us had even said sorry to her, and Kiki wasn't known for her humbleness. Probably something to do with being a Princess and all that.

"Oh! I know who! Albus Potter, Iris Zabini and Sunny Longbottom! They've been being rude to me all week!" I said in a flash of inspiration

"Really?! I know they're Slytherins, but they've never seemed like that."

"I know. But they have been. So let's go prank them!"

Liv grinned evilly. "You up for a bit of an adrenalin rush, Locket?"

I grinned back "Oh you're on Cardew. You're on like Hufflepuff Kong."

"Don't you go all American on me!"

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

"I couldn't care less that you're scared of heights! Suck it up!" I hissed at Liv

"What do you mean, 'suck it up'?! I'm Merlin knows how high up on a beam in the Entrance Hall! I'm not about to 'suck it up'!"

"Okay then. Don't suck it up. All the same, you're still on a beam in the Entrance Hall, and it's just as far to turn back as it is to carry on!"

Sometimes, Liv's lack of logic gets pretty bloody annoying.

And yes, if you're wondering, we're Merlin know's how high up, on a beam in the Entrance Hall.

And this is where the stroke of genius comes in.

Me and Liv had gone through almost all of the castle (mainly the well known, most used parts, and all of the parts down by the Slytherin common room and dorms), putting a clever little charm on all of the doorways.

Now, every time Albus, Sunny and Iris walk through a doorway, something will happen to them.

Some of them have your usual pranks. You know; dung bombs, water balloons, hair colour change charms...

Some of them however, were a bit more amusing. For instance the one above the Library, which would force them all to start speaking in Olde Englishe, in really loud, pompous voices, but think they're whispering.

And then there's the one that we were doing at the moment. It was well thought through and carefully planned.

Liv had been all for a spell that would make their robes see-through, but as I pointed out, Albus Potter was already adored by quite enough Potter lovers, and we didn't need to boost his ego any more by having a bunch of hormonal girls (and guys...?) throwing themselves at him. Similarly, both Sunny and Iris had their fair share of admirers, and nice figures, so no need to boost that further.

No, what made them stand out?

They were all different from their families. They were all...

Wait for it...

Black sheep.

So we should use that to our advantage, right?

All I'll say is...

Baa..........

And yes, as today is Saturday (and I've not even been asleep from Friday yet), we decided to but a timer charm on the doors, so the pranks will start on Monday. No point wasting a good prank on a weekend day, is there?

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

"I hate you, Locket, you know that, right?" Liv groaned, as she downed yet another energiser potion.

Yeah, we were pretty much overdosing on those things, but frankly, if you can't break the rules in high school, when can you, right?

"Nah you don't Cardew. You wuv me really."

She giggled, and then I giggled, and then we were both laughing our heads off when the potion came out of my nose. Yeah, I am a guy at heart.

As the high from the potions suddenly sprung to life, we skipped down to the pitch. The potion had taken any nerves off of me, and I felt much, much higher than the clouds. So high that the birdies would need omnioculars to see me!

I bounced into the changing rooms after waving Livy off to the bleachers. Lalalala....

I whipped off my clothes, ignoring the gazes of all the guys in the room. Who cares? Most of them have seen me in a bikini, so what's the difference?

I popped my robes on, fluffing them up in the mirror, smoothing my hair up into a high messy bun, trailing a few of the curls seductively out of the bobble, holding it all perfect with a charm. I saw some hazel eyes in the mirror behind me, and my stomach flipped, but by the time I'd composed myself and looked again, they'd gone.

I gave a very pale, shaking Lucy a quick hug, but I know from my first match that the more people fussing over you the worse, so I just whispered 'good luck, we all know you can kiss ass. We've got your back' in her ear and winked at her. She'll be fine; us girlies are tougher than the guys think.

Mark wasn't too pleased that I'd gotten my way, yet again, and was allowed to play, but if he just listened to the rest of the team, even Mat was saying we would lose with anyone else playing seeker, because the only player on the team for Hufflepuff who was better than our reserve was their seeker, a wiry fourth year, Rain Diggory, apparently she was the niece of the guy who got killed in the last Tri-Wizard Tournament. Anyway, she was actually quite good, surprisingly.

We all trouped out to the pitch, me absolutely buzzing. Whether that was from the screaming crowd or the potion, I'm not sure. You know, if I was spell tested, I'd be banned from playing because I'd taken an illegal substance?

Woops.

"Nice, _clean_ game." Wood, our coach, threatened. Sheesh, it's Hufflepuff. We hardly need to resort to any Slytherin tactics to win this.

We all shot up in the air, Lucy grabbing the quaffle from under the nose of a very surprised Hufflepuff. She shot off immediately towards the goal, but had to sloth roll to avoid one of the chasers, who had decided to block her. For the first time ever she managed the move without dropping the quaffle, but she seemed to have lost a little nerve, and she put a throw in to James, who caught the quaffle easily.

James was better respected on the pitch than Lucy. In fact, not one of the Hufflepuffs even bothered trying to stop him. Whether that was because they knew he was miles better than him, or they were just scared of him and his Marauder legacy, I don't know.

I drifted higher and higher, struggling to see the snitch in the overcast sky. I know everyone complains when it's raining or blowing a gale, but personally I think that adds a bit of adrenalin to the mix. Grey days like today just get on my nerves.

I caught a glimpse of something towards the teacher's stands, and shot off after it, Diggory not even noticing that I'd moved. Suddenly something flew into my eye, I'm guessing a fly, making me curse and shut my eyes, rubbing furiously to get the bug out.

It was a bit overwhelming with my eyes shut – there were so many people at the match. I could sense a non-human being though. It wasn't an animal one, too... metallic for that.

That's the point when I had a wild guess that it might be a quidditch ball, either a bludger or a snitch.

I yanked my eyes open, checking if Diggory had seen anything, when I remembered that with my eyes shut, time stopped.

James flew over to me

"You alright?"

I gave a truly evil smirk "Oh yes. Hufflepuff are about to get their asses kicked to Brazil."

He grinned right back at me "Oh I know, Locket, I know."

"No, you don't. You remember in the common room?"

"Er..." Then his eyes widened "You mean last night?"

I nodded. He grinned.

"And it seems Gryffindor hotty James Potter has stopped playing quidditch to chat up the girl every guy has a poster of under his bed, Gryffindor's seeker, Danni Locket!" Came the voice of Sunny Longbottom, who commentated every match.

He rolled his eyes and sped off.

I shook my head to clear it.

Then I shut my eyes, focusing on that metallic being.

Now I knew what I was looking for, it seemed to take longer to find it. I'd tell you it took about ten minutes to pinpoint it in the mass of beings, but I don't think time passes, so technically it took no time at all.

It was over towards the crowd of Ravenclaws, only about a foot from the grass. I grinned and opened my eyes, immediately locking onto the snitch.

Instead of flying straight for it I took a more roundabout route, hoping Diggory wouldn't notice I was already about to win. Thankfully no one seemed to notice, even though I was hovering directly above it.

I floated slowly lower and lower. I was getting a few funny looks, but still no one realised. Then in one sharp dive, I yanked downwards and grabbed the metal ball tight into my palm, shouting "Thanks for a clean game, Puffs!"

Then I pulled upwards again, my fist high in the air, doing a loop-the-loop.

Everyone cheered and screamed and my teammates all crowded round and hugged me and screamed and laughed.

"And Gryffindor wins the first match of the season!" Sunny shouted over the speakers. I grinned as we all trouped into the changing rooms.

"Well done team. Lucy, you did absolutely amazingly, especially for how little time you've been flying. Don't worry about the few slip ups, everyone makes a few mistakes. Fred and Jack, you two work really well together, so thank Merlin for that. Mat, you were brilliant as usual. James, you need to remember that I'm the captain and you're not, and that you have no right to tell any of us what to do. Dannie you need to get your head in the game a bit more, and stop daydreaming all the time. This is the quidditch pitch you're on, not some runway somewhere!" Mark reeled off.

I was stung to say the least. We'd just won the bloody match and he comes out with that about me and James?!

"Mark, shut the hell up. James did just fine, and he's not stealing your glory. He's not the one giving us the post match telling off, now, is he?" I spat, seething

"Yeah! And Dannie's just caught the snitch in under an hour, you buffoon!" James added, glaring at Mark as though he was about to kill him

Mat seemed to notice this was about the point in time where he should step in. He grabbed James by the arms, speaking in a low tone to him. He seemed to calm down, but what can I say? This is Mat we're on about. He could probably calm a heard of centaurs that had just been called 'filthy half breeds'.

An awkward silence fell over the team. Lucy was looking nervously between me and James, of all people.

"Okay, me and the boys'll do the party! Marauder Party starting as soon as we can get hold of the Firewhisky!" Fred said, making his fellow Idiots all light up in anticipation. Although if I tell the truth, you don't get a better party than a Weasley, Potter and Higgins one.

"You can count me in!" I said, peeling off layers of clothing down to my underwear and heading for the shower

Mark gave a stiff nod, but we all knew he loved the after-parties.

"Er, am I allowed to go?" Jack asked

"Yeah kid, you can stay until half nine, yeah?" Mat said kindly

"What?!" Fred shouted "He's a fourth year!"

"So? Us lot were at those parties as fourth years. Train them from young I say!" Potter shouted.

Sighing, I shut the door to the shower cubicle and slipped out of my underwear, turning the steamy hot water on.

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

As a girl, I hold the right to spend a long time in the shower. Actually, by the time I was done putting 'So Perfect – curlz' hair potion on (perfect hair – full of volume, super soft, radiant colour, and as I had the 'curlz' version, perfect curls), 'So Sexy Legz' potion on my legs (makes them super smooth and a yummy golden brown colour), 'So Clear' potion on my face (no one like acne. Even if the worst I ever get is a few blackheads), and my favourite invention (actually one of my own), which is a potion that works like shower lotion, but has Amortentia in it, meaning it makes you smell of whatever you love the most. Well, kinda. See, it'd be a bit weird if I smelt of my granddad to my grandma, so I altered the recipe a little. I always smell of what I want to smell of, but it's more attractive to other people.

If that makes any sense.

Anyway, it smells slightly musky, a bit like hot chillies, but I topped it off with a very sweet, but not floral, smell, which sort of teases the other scents with it's... sweetness. According to Liv, it suits me down to the ground.

And yes, we did have a good laugh over that.

I was starting to get butterflies, which was weird, because I never get nervous in social situations, but maybe... actually I have no idea why I was worried.

I hummed as I got dressed. I'd gone for an open-backed dark red tee-shirt, pale acid washed, distressed jeans, and the biggest heels I owned. True, they were one of the only pairs I had recently bought that I couldn't walk in at first. Now though, they just made me swing my hips and as Kiki said at the time 'look like a fucking model'.

I put on a touch of light foundation and blush, and then did my eyes a theatrical smokey dark. I love doing my eyes really dark, because what with them being a pale grey, the contrast is quite striking.

I sound like a stuck up prick.

I pouted my lips and slicked on some clear gloss.

I did a quick spell over my robes to clean, iron and fold them, then I put them back into my locker and shrugged on my tan leather jacket. Hot quidditch party here I come.

I had even opened my mouth to say the password to the Fat Lady when Liv grabbed me from behind and yanked me around to face her

I looked at her in surprise and mild amusement. What now?

She looked pretty worried. What now?!?

"Dan... I'm so sorry we fell out..."

"Hey, Liv, honestly, I'm fine with it. It was as much my fault as yours. Besides we're over the whole 'I'm sorry' 'you're sorry' part now, aren't we?"

"I know... but if James hadn't told me how upset you were I'd have never even spoken to you again!" She all but wailed

Wait. James did that for me?

It must have shown on my face, because Liv suddenly stopped and went wide-eyed as well

"Oh my god! James Potter, Sex God and Hotty Extraordinaire, as well as Leader of the Idiot Group and Chief Asshole did that for you?!?"

I just stood there, more than a little stunned, thinking over everything he'd done for me.

He'd saved my life, then made sure I had the help to get over my ordeal

He'd listened to me when everything went wrong, and did his best to fix it.

He'd even got his parents involved to fix the problem

He'd visited me in hospital, even though he probably had better things to be doing

He put up with my Granny going on and on about him

He'd said sorry when he'd insulted me. Though insulting me in the first place is never a good plan

"Oh my Merlin..." I whispered, the butterflies turning resolutely into bludgers

Liv nodded slowly, then hugged me in the way only a best friend can. I think I was in shock

I gave the password to the Fat Lady, and she swung open to reveal a very loud, very boisterous party that made my toes tingle in anticipation. Everyone was cheering and roaring and drinking and dancing. All my team were there, in the middle, and everyone turned when they saw me, cheering even louder.

In like a sort of surge, everyone came bubbling over, chanting my name. James' eyes caught mine, and as cheesy as it sounds, I honestly couldn't look away.

"Dannie!" He exclaimed, and it carried over the others. Whether that was because he shouted louder than the others, or what, I don't know.

He bounded over and picked me up, making me shriek and giggle with sheer exuberance. I felt so happy to be me.

He put me down gently, my arms around his neck, him holding my hips. His brown eyes were filled with the same fire I'd seen – the Bogart/Koff/broomstick look, but this time it was... different. It wasn't fear or anger that had caused it this time.

If you had told me that morning that I was going to have kissed James Potter with as much passion as I could in front of the whole of my house by the end of the day, I would probably have died of laughter.

As I pressed my lips softly to his, I felt him stiffen in surprise. I panicked a little; what if I'd read his eyes wrong? What if he didn't want me like I wanted him? But it was too late to pull back. Thankfully, after only a few seconds, he relaxed and pulled me closer to him, moulding me to his (very yummy) quidditch muscles, gently moving his lips against mine.

My eyes snapped shut, and the being thing started working, and I almost shouted out in surprise. That familiar being? The one that made me feel safe and happy? The leader one? Well true to sickly Disney standards, that was James! I pulled his being closer, feeling safer and frankly pretty turned on when his being seemed to almost mesh with mine.

He let out a low moan, sending shivers down my spine, and I refocused on his lips, and the more physical part of the kiss.

The kiss changed from a gentle, soft kiss to a much deeper more heated one, making me tingle all over as his tongue battled with mine. My hands laced in his hair, tangling into what I had once called a 'disgusting, egotistical mop'. His hands slipped round to my bare back, making me shiver. His hands were cool, presumably from holding a chilled bottle of something alcoholic.

I didn't want to pull away, but I was finding my breathing difficult enough, being this close to James, without having my mouth permanently attached to his. I flicked my eyes open, meeting his, and he smiled softly at me, complete*beep* in his eyes, making me melt.

Get a grip, Dannie! This is the idiot you've hated for _six years_!

I smiled back at him, reaching up on tiptoes to press one last soft kiss on his lips. The room was silent. Honestly, no one had even bother whispering,, because it was obvious what everyone what thinking. WTF.

I turned in James's arms, so my back was to his chest, his arms around my stomach. Everyone looked like the world was about to end or something. Like it was the apocalypse. Who knows. It is pretty weird that James and me... James and me what? I don't know.

"Pay up!" Mat shouted. A chorus of groans filled the room

"Pay up what?" James growled

I have to say, I was pretty confused. Mat making bets? I know he was part of the Idiot Group (I should probably call them Marauders now...), but this is Mat we're on about! There shouldn't be any rule breaking!

Mat looked at James guiltily

"Er, I might have just bet a hundred galleons that you lot would get together... possibly."

My eyes widened. A _hundred_ galleons?

"You. Did. WHAT?" James hissed "What about the code??"

I turned to the side slightly and murmured "Code?"

"Marauder's Code of Honour." He murmured back. I stifled a giggle. Boys and their silly games

"Er. Oh yeah." Mat squeaked.

* * *

It was so strange. It was as if me and James had always been together. After their little Marauder Code argument had been ended (manly hug and a few too many shots of a stiff drink), the party picked up swing again. Everything felt so natural with James, all too fairy-tale for my tastes. Not that I didn't like it.

Liv came trotting over, giggle and tottering in her heels, clutching a pint glass of god knows what. Although whatever it was, it probably shouldn't have been in a pint glass.

"Aww! Honey!! I'm so proud of you and James! It's all so perfect and adorable!" She said, hugging me a bit sloppily, looking like she was about to tear up. "Of course, now you can fix the whole 'sexual frustration' problem you two have had since fourth year!" She said, beaming as if she'd just found a cure to dragon-pox. Then she pottered happily off. I groaned and slapped a hand over my forehead

"What's wrong?" James muttered into my ear. His breath on my neck made me shiver and smirk a little as anything but PG thoughts trailed through my head.

"Hhmmm?" I said, somewhat distracted

James chuckled throatily, and I twisted round to catch his lips.

Mmm... Why did I never do this before?

He tasted a bit more alcoholic than last time.

"You've been drinking!" I accused. He raised an eyebrow and cracked a smile

"That coming from the only girl who's ever beaten Fred Weasley in a drinking game?"

I smiled guiltily. He looked like he was about to brag about his victory so I kissed him again. To shut him up, that is. Nothing to do with being addicted to him...

I danced with James for a while, goofing around a bit, enjoying feeling happy enough in his presence to make a fool of myself, just as I would with Kiki and Liv.

Well, as I used to with Kiki and Liv.

"Can we sit for a bit?" I asked James when the song ended

"Sure."

We sat in the window seat, looking out over the grounds. I snuggled up to him comfortably. To tell the truth, that 'comfortably' bit worried me. I was far too... happy in the... what was it?... relationship before it had already started. I'd spent six years practicing hating him, and to now... er... anyway, to not hate him, is a bit of a big and unexpected jump.

He traced lightly down my arm with one finger, smiling lightly as he did so.

"Erm, James? What's happening... with us?" I asked, nervously biting the nails on the hand he wasn't holding

"What do you want to happen?"

Well... inventive answer there James. Grow some balls please

"That's a lame answer."

He laughed. James Potter laughed at me when I insulted him. I feel halfway between doing a happy dance because his laugh is sooooo beautiful (why did I never notice before?!?) and slapping him.

How would it work if I slapped him while doing a happy dance?

"Okay. Well... I'd love to be your boyfriend... I mean... er... if that's what you want..."

I giggled at his furrowed brow and confused pout

"Would you like to start that again, Mr Potter?"

"Why thank you Miss Locket. What I meant to say, Miss Locket, was would you do me the honour of being my girlfriend?"

My mouth curled up at his cute little speech. He grinned at this, leaning in and trailing soft kisses down my neck, making me slightly breathless.

"Why thank you, Mr Potter, for that lovely spe...mmm...." I trailed off as he nibbled the soft point under my ear, making me moan. I felt him grin against my skin, and suck on my neck.

That was going to leave a mark. Thank Merlin for colour change spells.

I tipped his chin up and pressed my lips to his again, softly. I pulled back and whispered "Mr Potter, I would love to be your girlfriend."

Good god what on earth is wrong with me.

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

By about one in the morning, when there was just sixth and seventh years left, I finally began to feel a little guilty that I'd not spoken to anyone apart from James the whole of the party. Well, by spoken I mostly mean snogged senseless, but it's a minor detail.

I'd seen Kiki and Rose once or twice, but they'd ignored me, turning their noses up and marching off again. I think James was more hurt about his cousin brushing him off than he let on, but I didn't push it.

I hadn't seen Liv since the talk she gave me about 'sexual tension', so I assumed she'd gone off to the Hufflepuff dorms for the party, though they didn't have much to celebrate. Presumably she just wanted to speak to lover boy.

"James, have you seen Liv at all?" I asked him

He shook his head, looking a little confused "Why would she go anywhere? We all know Liv never misses a party!"

I smiled lightly at his expression of confusion "She's going out with a Hufflepuff, and I get the impression it's pretty serious."

"Oh. Wait, Liv and a Hufflepuff? I thought it was going to be Liv and Mat?"

"I get the impression Mat fucked it up pretty bad."

"Oh!"

I nodded. "Oh and James? Thank you so, so much for talking to Liv for me. You have no idea how much that means to me."

"Actually, all I had to do was explain you were just as cut up about it as she was, and then she saw sense. You three are all too close for one fight to tear you apart. It's like us Marauders."

I felt my eyes well a little

"James, what about Kiki?" I whispered

His expression became stony

"I think I need to have a chat with Rose."

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

I was buzzing. I felt like I'd had some sort of illegal potion. Honestly, I was just so happy to be James Sirius Potter's girlfriend

Daniela Isabella Locket is the girlfriend of James Sirius Potter

Lalalalalalala..............

"You look pretty happy." Mat commented as I stood by the little buffet bit, eating Bertie Bot's by the handful, not even cringing when they were vomit flavour.

Actually, the grass flavoured ones are quite nice.

"I'm going out with James." I said, giggling a little

Mat put on a mock look of surprise

"Really?!? And here I was thinking the galleons I won just dropped from the sky."

I smacked him on the arm "Mat..." I wined

"What? You'll have to get used to our jokes you know. You're going out with one of us."

"I know!" I said, giddily

I felt arms snake around my middle, and someone's warm breath on my neck. I smiled as my stomach jigged around.

"Hey beautiful." He murmured, his voice low and husky. It sent tingles all over my body.

Gah. How ridiculously cliché.

Kill me now.

Wait! Let me kiss James goodbye first...

* * *

Fred was the only one who seemed to have any resentment about me and James being together. Mat assured me it was just because Fred and James were so close, and he was simply jealous.

"What, is Fred gay?!?"

"No. Of all the things to ask!"

I nodded. I think sometimes I underestimate just how close the three of them are.

"You just need to prove to Fred that you're a good choice of girlfriend. Fred just doesn't trust you, seeing as you've spent the past six years doing all you can to 'bring down the Idiot Group'."

I smiled sheepishly "Oh."

I asked James about it after that little chat. He seemed pretty uncomfortable about it, but he did agree with Mat that Fred just needed to come to terms with the fact that me and James were now together. *happy dance*. *more happy dancing*. Lalalala........

"Hey, Fred?" I asked, tapping the boy in question on the shoulder, pulling him away from a random fifth year he was chatting up

"What?" he asked irritably. I faltered. What exactly? Fred doesn't seem to be one for heartfelt chats or anything like that. I'd make a pretty good guess at him feeling very uncomfortable as soon as any sort of feelings came into conversation.

"Drinking game?" I asked

His eyes lit up, but then darkened again with confusion "Why?"

"Because you're just about the only person who would ever have any hope of beating me?"

"Go play with lover boy." He said, sourly

"Lover boy is a light weight. You and me both know that. Come on... please?"

"fine." He grumbled

I led him over to the drinks table, where Mat and James were laughing about something or other.

"Me and Fred are about to have a drinking game. Either of you two in?" I asked, grinning

Mat smiled a knowing smile, and James outright grinned

"You two are friends?" He asked, looking like Christmas had come early and Santa had come to visit.

I nodded, feeling far too bubbly that James thought Christmas had come early to be normal. I'm beginning to think I need medication.

We finally agreed on drinking shots of the most alcoholic drink we could find, and then seeing who could still walk in a vaguely straight line. I'm not even sure what drink it was, because Mat found and poured it out before anyone else had seen it. Mat had opted out of the game, but me, James and Fred were all in. We did ask the others if they wanted in as well, but they seemed to think it would be more amusing to just watch.

Mat conjured a long, white line to run down the centre of the common room. Whoever could walk the length of the line fastest without going off the white would win.

We were originally going to do the traditional drink until you fall over type thing, but Mat said that was 'irresponsible'. I'm beginning to wonder if Mat is really a Marauder or not.

"Ready, Set, GO!"

We all downed the shots as fast as we could. I smirked, knowing I already had a head start; I'd only drunk butter beer so far, whereas Fred had been drinking Firewhisky and James had been drinking some muggle drink.

I was beginning to feel the alcohol now, that fuzzy, muzzy, brilliant feeling. I giggled a little. Don't even ask why.

Sure, it was the kind of stuff that burned your throat as you swallowed it, but no pain no gain.

By the time we were all done, I was feeling well and truly... flat on my ass drunk. But I wasn't allowed to be flat on my ass. I had to walk down the stupid line.

Mind you, both the boys looked possibly worse than I was

I went to stand up, and tottered around like Bambi on a bad day.

We were all finally stood on the line... "GO!"

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

I will never admit that Fred won outright, but he did. He won by quite a bit. Seems even after Firewhisky, Fred is still 'the man' as James put it. James failed pitifully, though he blamed the muggle drink he'd been drinking beforehand.

I sat on the stairs to the boy's dormitories, holding a pint glass of water (no one likes a hangover, though I'll undoubtedly have on in the morning), watching James. And yes, that does sound as if I'm a stalker, but in my alcohol rich state, he looked even better than he did when I was sober. I had a niggling feeling in the back of my mind that I was acting like one of those pathetic *beep* struck teenagers, but who cares. This is James Sirius Potter, Hotty Extraordinaire, and Quidditch Superstar. Oh, and MY boyfriend.

He was stood with Mark, laughing and acting out (rather sloppily) some quidditch moves. Mark was shaking his head in amusement at him. I'm amazed he didn't crack up completely.

I smiled to myself as I watched him. I have no idea how I suddenly can see what the James Sirius Potter Fan Club can see, but I can. In fact, I completely sympathise with them. He is completely drool worthy.

And sure, he can be a jerk, but he can be adorable too. Like coming to see me in hospital and helping Liv and me be friends again. And with Lucy, and with Mat and Fred. And there's no denying he's smart; he's in the top sets for just about everything. Well, apart from Herbology.

He looked around, as though he knew I was practically eye raping him, and smiled brightly at me. He ambled (_very_ wobbly) over to me and plopped down next to me, making me laugh when he all but fell on me.

He pulled me towards him, bringing my face so close to his that I shut my eyes in anticipation.

But he didn't kiss me. He held me there, his breath hot on my face, so close I could practically taste him, one hand gently teasing the skin (I don't think I'm ever wearing this open backed tee-shirt again; he seems to take it as an invitation to tease me) on my back, the other twirling through my hair. Probably messing up my previously perfect curls.

I moaned, leaning closer to him. He laughed, leaning round me to nibble my ear. I moaned again and wiggle/shifted so I was pretty much sat on him. He didn't even seem to notice, moving down my neck, making me tip my head back. Mmmmm.......................

"You're beautiful, you know." He whispered

I giggled softly, starting to feel a bit sick. I hate alcohol.

"You're pretty handsome yourself, Potter."

He pulled away and looked at me as though I'd just kicked him "Potter?"

I think I melted. His eyes had gone all big and shiny and he looked like Puss in Boots. You know in Shrek where he's holding his hat in the forest and looking up at Shrek and Donkey.

I pulled him back to me, kissing him softly on his lips. "You're _my_ Potter."

* * *

When I woke in the morning I didn't open my eyes for a while. It's what I usually do after I've been drinking. Don't open my eyes until I've remembered as much as I can, in the hopes that wherever I am, it's not a shock. I learnt that after I woke up in the Slytherin dorms, with no recollection of how I got there. Needles to say, I screamed my head off, which brought Slughorn waddling. Now that was a difficult one to talk my way out of.

Whereas if I'd taken a few minutes to remember where I was, I wouldn't have screamed, I would have slipped out noiselessly and scurried away.

Since I've been able to do the whole 'being' thingy, I've had to take a dreamless sleep potion every night, but it seems as though the alcohol has done that job for me. Although it's starting to work again now, seeing as it had been severely fuzzified by Firewhisky. Woops. Mind, I don't think the hangover is helping either. Though that's the same for whatever you're doing. A splitting headache never helps anything.

Stop waffling. Back to remembering what happened last night...

The last thing I could clearly remember was telling James he was MY Potter.

Right, so that was sat on the stairs. Well I'm clearly not on stairs now, so there's something missing.

Okay. It's all pretty blurry. Deep breaths. I'm sure it's all fine.

Falling asleep... with James? Someone was holding me anyway, and I can feel a being very close by, one that felt safe and secure, just like James's. So if I was with James, then that's fine, but where was I?

I don't think I went upstairs at any point. And I don't think I left the Gryffindor tower, so by definition I must be in the common room, presumably asleep with James?

Well wherever I am, I need a hangover potion.

I peeled an eye open cautiously and came face to face with a tartan blanket.

"AHHHHHH!!!!!!"

Well you would have screamed if you thought you'd fallen asleep on McG. Even though it was just a tartan rug that had clearly been laid over us last night.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed whoever I was laid on.

I looked around. Thank Merlin for that; it was James.

"James?"

"James Sirius Potter, Hotty Extraordinaire, Quidditch Superstar and all round good guy." He confirmed. I smacked his arm

"Feisty." He said with a smirk

"Well one of us has to be."

"Hey!"

"Is what you feed to horses."

"How can you be this... normal? Don't you have the world's worst hangover?"

"Women have a higher pain threshold than men. In other words, I'm acting more normal than you are because you're a wimp."

He looked actually a little hurt.

It's strange; all these years when I've been horrible to him, I've never once worried about his feelings. Maybe I was more pig-headed than he was!

Not that I'd ever tell him that. I'm the sole reason there's ever space in a room to move when James's head is in there as well. Actually, that's not fair – Kiki and Liv helped with Bring Down Idiot Group as well.

On the subject of missions and boys involved in them, I wonder what's happening with Mission Malfoy?

Because I had so many good plans for that that'll probably never get done now.

"Dan?" James asked, searching my eyes as though I was about to pass out. Ah. He's just witnessed his first Danni Daydream. That's my ability to drift off to la la land at no notice.

I kissed him softly on the lips (absolutely NO tongues; morning breath is _not cool_) and then smiled at him

"That was me going off to daydream land. It's perfectly normal... for me." I said "Now come on. Let's get you some hangover potion and a shower."

He wiggled his eyebrows at me. Idiot boy.

"You can go round smelly all day then." I added sternly, rolling off the sofa, taking the tartan rug with me. "Besides, we need to get to the kitchens and get some food; I'm starved."

It appeared we were the only ones in the common room, and we must have been asleep for quite a while, because the common room bore no signs of the party last night.

I had a shower, did my hair and makeup and all of that, and got dressed. Thanking Merlin that quidditch matches were always on a Saturday. The dorm was also empty, and tidy, so the girls must have been out of it for long enough for the house elves to come round and pick up the laundry and stuff. How long did we sleep for?!?

Although that's the first night since... Koff that I've not woken up repeatedly through the night, terrified, even though I didn't have any nightmares (dreamless sleep potion). I just wake up, shaking and sweating and absolutely terrified.

We really needed to get to the kitchens for something to eat. I feel like I've not eaten for weeks.

I chucked back the hangover potion, letting the cool, minty liquid run down my throat, and feeling immediately better for it. It's my own recipe, and it works instantly, as opposed to the usual one which takes up to an hour to take effect. By which time you've probably tried to kill yourself.

Actually, I sell a variety of my own recipe potions to other students. Completely illegal, but it's quite amazing how much people will pay for an effective hangover potion. I'm pretty sure even the Marauders buy it off me.

I pouted into the mirror, looking critically at my reflection. I needed to pluck my eyebrows. Well, shape them with magic. You didn't think I'd be inflicting pain on myself for no reason did you?

Skinny jeans, oversized Hollister hoodie, heels. Check.

Colour smoother charm (waaaaaaaaay better than foundation), light brown eye shadow, touch of liner, mascara, clear lip gloss, hint of blush, setting and sticking charm. Check.

Big curls, full of volume, radiant colour, holding charm, impervious charm, flexi-charm. Check.

Merlin I'm vain.

James knocked on the door to my dorm, and then let himself in almost immediately after.

"James, when you knock, usually you wait for an... wait... how the hell did you get up here?"

"This isn't the first time you've seen me up here is it?" he asked, smirking

Actually, he was right there. The first time had been when Kiki had gone to fetch him after the Koff incident, but I was too... upset at the time to even realise he was upstairs in the girl's dorm.

I narrowed my eyes at him, drawing my wand. His eyes widened and he put his hands up in surrender

"Marauder Secret!"

I stalked closer, and he backed up, hitting the wall behind him as he did so

"No, really! I can't tell you!"

I growled at him. Mature I know.

His eyes darkened "God your hot when you're mad." And then he stepped towards me, reversing the roles

He snaked an arm around me, making me shiver (it was cold. I swear) and draw closer to him (he's a source of warmth). He grinned wolfishly down at me

"Yes?" I asked, still irritated. It didn't come out sounding quite how I hoped though. More 'I'm very breathless because my sex god of a boyfriend is about two millimetres away from my face' than 'I'm very mad with this idiot'.

He didn't answer though. Instead he brought his lips down on mine, licking and nibbling at my bottom lip, making me moan, opening my mouth. Something I hadn't intended on doing as he _was_ still being an idiot.

His tongue flicked into my mouth, tasting of minty hangover potion, not that I minded. I was still too sleepy to have any kind of battle with him, so I just let him explore my mouth, running him tongue over mine, and up around my teeth. It was strange for me; I'm not the kind of person to just let someone else have control. Liv says it's because I find it hard to trust people, but that theory's a bit blank, considering that that'd mean I trusted James more than I trusted anyone else.

Er... I doubt it.

Not that I don't trust him, it just seems... strange.

"So, you must be ready by now? Honestly, you look beautiful. Stop fussing. Besides what's on the inside is what's important. What's on the outside is just an added bonus." He asked

I smiled softly. He was right, I guess. But to me, the outside matters. It matters because what's on the outside is how people know what's on the inside. So no matter how sweet and cute the sentiment of James's words may be, they're delusional.

Still, they were pretty cute.

"Yeah. I'm done."

* * *

_Oh la la!!! How long was this chapter?!? Hopefully it makes up for how long it was since I last uploaded. Actually, as I'm sitting writing this now, I'm on holiday in some random remote part of England, which invariably has neither phone signal nor internet coverage. The price of seclusion, hey?_

_Anyway, please PLEASE review; it means a lot to me to know that people take the time to tell me how they think my story is, whether that feedback is good or bad I don't mind. I've just been told by the doctor that I might not ever get better from my illness, and at the moment my stories are one of the few things I'm still allowed to do – I used to do a lot of horse riding, mostly competitively, but I'm not even allowed to walk to the stables to say hi to my horses now. I'm not allowed to go to school, or even run up and down the stairs. My parents are really struggling coming to terms with it and they need me to be strong for them, when really I need their support more than they know._

_It's pretty difficult to publish something like that on the internet, and the only reason I'm doing so is because I know all my family and friends are here for me no matter what, and because I truly believe I will get better. Doctors are like weather men; they always tell it worse than it is. Maybe I'm in denial, but if that's what it takes for me to deal with it, then so be it._

_Anyway, you don't read my story to listen to me moaning on! So do you think James/Dannie getting together was a bit too fast and a bit too Disney? Too... sweet? Tell me!!!_

_As always, I've been to the furniture store (online, seeing as I'm practically not allowed out of the house) and bought a load of transfiguration tables, so a free Eric/Erica to every reviewer!!!_

_Thank you for reading!!!! Hope you like it!!_


	13. Jam Jam and Dan Dan

_Well... here's another chapter!_

_The plot thickens!!! If you want a clue... __everything's__ linked..._

_If you don't want a clue... It's a bit late now..._

_Anyway, this one's actually quite long as well, but not as long as the last one._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

We wandered down to the kitchens hand in hand. You know, I still didn't know the time?

"So tell me about your family?" he asked, when he was done listing his hundreds of cousins

"Well, you actually know all there is to know. Both my parents were only children, so I don't have any cousins or uncles or aunts. There was me and my sister, as you know. Emma was simply the best little sister in the world. Then there are my grandparents, who are probably more of my parent figures than anyone. You've met them too. Ironically they were Slytherins, both of them, during the time of Lucius Malfoy, the Lestranges and the Blacks. They knew the Marauders, the original ones.

"Well, I don't actually think they liked the Marauders, but no worries; they seem to like you, and they practically worship your dad.

"I live in Cornwall, in a massive, stately home, with just about every creature comfort I could have. Liv lives nearby, as do my grandparents. But you knew all of that too. I honestly don't think there's anything you _don't_ know."

James laughed. "So how do you know so many of the shortcuts and stuff in the castle? You seem to know it as well as us Marauders."

"Does 'I solemnly swear I'm up to no good' ring any bells?"

"How the hell do you know about that?" he asked looking more than a little annoyed

"Do you remember in second year when that person from the Auror office came in to talk to us all? And he was going on and on about tracking spells and surveillance spells? Well let's just say if you actually listened to him, as opposed to falling asleep, you'd have realised he was telling us a lot more than he probably should have been."

"Right. So... wait... does that mean you have our dorm under surveillance?!"

I smirked. Give the boy a cookie.

"In my defence, we took the spells down after we found out about the map and the cloak. You know, it's really bad to steal off your dad. Don't worry your pretty little head about it; we've not used the spells since third year when we used them to watch the Slytherins to see how our prank worked."

He nodded thoughtfully "You know, that spell would be pretty dangerous in the wrong hands."

"So would just about any spell you wish to think of. A colour change spell could be used to kill hundreds of muggles if timed correctly, simply by changing the colour of a level crossing light. Magic is dangerous in the wrong hands."

You know, my mind comes up with some startlingly horrible things sometimes.

James tickled the pear, and the door swung open. I jumped down the steps, two at a time, and settled myself on one of the tables, asking the helpful elf (Binky) for 'the usual, please'.

James had a big mug of coffee (yuck) and an omelette (equally yuk). He watched with interest while Binky rushed around making Sloosh, and finding me a toffee and pecan cookie, which I then proceeded to try out a new spell on. Technically it should siphon out most of the calories. Let's hope so.

"what the hell are you drinking?"

"Sloosh. It's like an orgasm in drinkable form, to quote Liv." I said, laughing "here, try some."

He took a sip, and promptly spat it back out again

"That's... that's... eugh... it's like drinking Grandma Weasley's entire sugar jar all in one go! And let me tell you, that woman has enough sugar to feed a starving nation!"

"well that's fine by me. All the more for me." I said jovially. Although I was a little offended that he spat it out again. "just next time don't spit, swallow."

His eyes bogged out. I smirked.

I munched on the cookie. I have to say, it tasted slightly cardboard-y. Maybe that spell's not all it's cracked up to be after all.

I should know better than to trust Witch Weekly.

The smell of omelettes always makes me feel sick. I haven't a clue why. It just does.

"hurry up." I whined.

He glared at me. Serves him right for liking omelettes.

When he was finally done we handed our mugs and plates back to the elves, and headed off again.

"you know, I've not seen a single person so far today, apart from you." James said

I frowned, thinking back through the day so far "you know, you're right."

We decided to go to the library, and start looking for locator spells that would help us find Emma. For some reason though, I doubted something as simple as that would find my sister if my dad didn't want her to be found.

James was far more familiar with the library than I expected, easily finding his way around the restricted section. Hardly surprisingly, there had been absolutely nothing of use in the normal section of the library. Tracking spells are illegal, after all. You have to have an auror permit to be allowed to do something like that.

I skimmed along the shelves, wondering if there was anything in the dusty books about my 'beings' James obviously realised something was a bit weird about me, but I'm not sure I exactly wanted to tell anyone about it.

Also, maybe there was some way I could translate that word I'd dreamt of in the hospital. Thing was, I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was. In fact, up until the moment I went into the languages section of the library I'd completely forgotten the dream full stop.

I pulled out one book and sat down at one of the desks. 'Unusual Branches of Thinking Magic and Other Dark Magic' looked promising.

I leafed through the pages, cursing the fact that all the books in the library seemed to be over a million pages long. Each page was as thin as a butterfly wing, and the writing was so tiny you needed a super-sensory charm to even read it. I groaned in frustration.

At first there was just a load of waffle about legimency and occlumency, all that stuff that we'd been taught about before, even though we were never told how to do it. Did you know that if you're good enough at occlumency you can kill someone with it?

No wonder the book's in the restricted section.

But on the inside of the back cover, written lightly in a lilting, cursive script, in pencil, was the word 'beings', and under it a series of symbols, like the ones used by alchemists.

"What are you doing with that book?!?" came the screech. I snapped it shut and looked at the librarian guiltily. The middle aged woman came marching over. She's one of those people who look like an animal. She looks like a spider. Thin and spindly and moves oddly. And not something you want to find in the darkest corner of the library.

Apparently she's a spider Animagus – that's how she gets around the library so fast. But then again, that's just a rumour.

"Well? Excuse this time? Or would you rather just take the detention?"

"er..."

"I thought so."

She spider-ed off again, after grabbing the book off me. I groaned, and then jumped when I heard someone laughing quietly

"Ginny!" I exclaimed. "How come you're here?"

She didn't answer me immediately, she came bustling over and hugged me tight to her still perfect figure.

"We think we know what Koff is."

I could feel the colour draining from my face. I must have been as pale as the Grey Lady.

"you do?" I croaked

"Oh, sweetie, you'll be fine, we just need to tell you, so you understand, yes?"

I nodded mutely

She looked around her, as though she'd not been looking where she was going to get where she was "what are you doing in this part of the library, missy?"

I laughed weakly "you don't want to know. Actually, have you seen James, he was here a minute ago."

Ginny smirked. "_That_ kind of 'don't want to know'?"

"Ginny! No!"

"QUIET IN MY LIBRARY!!!"

"you know, I sometimes think she forgets this is a place for people and books, not for books alone."

* * *

"No, honestly Madam Freely, Dannie and I are doing an extra credit essay on Thinking Magic for DADA. She was meant to be looking at that book, honestly." James said, glaring at the librarian

She huffed

"Besides, at least she was taking an interest in the books you so expertly keep, rather than misusing the library." He continued

"well... yes..."

The poor librarian missed the little flash of mirth in James's eyes, but neither Ginny nor I did, and we both had to stifle a laugh

"And you already do too much for this school, you don't need to be working overtime just to give one student a detention. Why don't you set up a group detention for all the people misusing the library, say, the first Saturday evening of every month? That way you'd be missing less of your free time and still be punishing the students."

I had to bite my lip to stop myself wetting myself with laughter at that point. If Madam Freely bought that, then none of us quidditch players would ever be able to get a detention in the library ever again. The rule as far as detentions go is that when given by a teacher, they over-ride any other extra-curricular activities. When given by a member of the non-teaching staff, they have to be fitted around the student's schedule.

And since the school introduced the friendly matches, held on the first Saturday evening of each month... well we can wave good bye to any more library detentions.

"Well... I suppose you're right there, Mr Potter. It's lovely to have such a respectful student for once. I suppose I'll let Miss Locket off just this once."

I grabbed James by the hand and towed him off before he could go and say something that would undo all his good work.

Ginny followed behind us, much slower than we were going. I'm guessing she was being the 'cool mum' and giving us some space

I yanked him out of the library and kissed him quickly; backing up until my back hit the stone behind me, before Ginny was there as well

"Thank you." I whispered. He grinned down at me

"Who's the man?" James asked cockily

"Er, according to you, Fred."

Ginny popped out of the library, and saw us, me up against the wall, James's face about an inch from mine.

I wriggled, trying to get away, but James just laughed and held me there

"Aha! I knew it!" she exclaimed, eyeing us beadily. "Harry? HARRY!" she shouted

Harry came out of McG's office, holding a half eaten ginger newt, looking mildly startled as his wife came barrelling towards him, with me and James trailing behind her

"Yes, Gin?" he asked through a mouthful of biscuit

"James and Dannie! I told you! You have to do the washing up for a month!!!"

Then she burst into peals of laughter as Harry looked between me and James, eventually settling on glaring at James

"James, son, did you have to? Did you not realise that would mean I would have to do the washing up for a month?!"

James grinned "Of course I knew. Kreacher sent me an owl, saying he was going on holiday, whichever one of you won, as he wouldn't have to do the dishes anymore."

Harry groaned "bloody elf..."

"I should introduce him to Mr and Mrs Potts..." I said, thoughtfully. My elves get very lonely in the house by themselves, seeing as they came with me from my grandparents, who have about ten elves.

"Mr and Mrs Potts?" James asked, looking confused

"my elves. Where's Kreacher from, by the way? Was he always yours?"

"Well he wasn't actually ours to begin with. He was the Black's. I inherited him from my god father, Sirius." Harry answered "He was a right pain to start with, but he's great now."

"I bet he already knows Mr and Mrs Potts then. They used to belong to my grandparents, the Gaunts, but then they came with me to my new house."

Harry had gone pale. "Gaunts? As in Slytherin Gaunts?"

I smiled "Yep. As if Slytherin Gaunts. They're really lovely people though, and they absolutely love James."

Sometimes it really bugs me though that people still judge families like mine because they're an old, pure-blood, Slytherin family. It's not even like my grandparents did anything in the war! They went into hiding!

I never did find out why my grandparents had to hide from Voldemort.

On that subject, I've ever heard them talking about 'Voldemort' or 'You Know Who', or any of the names people normally call him. He's just referred to as 'Him'.

Only Liv knows that my family are the Gaunts. Until I put on the sorting hat I hadn't even realised my grandparents were anything more than the loving people that they were. I can still remember it talking to me now

"_Locket, Daniela!"_

_I stepped forward, quaking in my shiny and rather expensive shoes. And yes, they did have a heel, but it was only a low one. I can't live without my heels, remember? They were new, obviously; Mum and Dad would never have bought me them._

"_Er, It's Dannie or Dan, please..." I trailed off, looking at the slightly chubby man who I now know to be Professor Longbottom (Neville, by the way, not Madam L.)_

"_Oh... Er...right." he said, scratching his hair slightly._

_The whole hall was silent, watching now_

"_Well, Locket, Dannie, then please?"_

_I felt my stomach slip and slide around. I squared my shoulders and walked up the stone steps slowly; I didn't want to slip and embarrass myself further. I sat on the stool, looking briefly at the massive hall before the world went dark as the hat was slipped on and over my eyes_

"_Well Well! A Gaunt! I haven't seen one of these for years! How wonderful! Of course, you've taken your father's name... and lost the Gaunt one, but none the less, it is in your blood."_

_I started a little, remembering what little Granddad had told me about Sorting, and the hat that seemed to know you better than you knew yourself. _

"_Pleased to meet you Sir." I replied back politely. I wasn't about to let Granny and Granddad down!_

"_Wonderful! So, which house are you going to today? Slytherin, I suppose?"_

"_Well... Granny and Granddad have told me how wonderful Slytherin sounds..."_

"_Ah. Of course, that was where I was going to put you, being the heir and all, it would be a bit stupid to put you anywhere else. SLYTH"_

_But I interrupted it. See, I'd met Liv on the train, and she was now in Gryffindor. From what I knew about the houses, no one could be friends with a Gryffindor if they were a Slytherin._

"_Yes, child?" the hat asked, irritably_

"_I'm sorry, Mr Hat, but are you sure? That I'm a Slytherin? I don't want to end up in a house just because of my family."_

"_Ah. Yes, I see. You're doing this for a friend, aren't you? Well... maybe you'd suit Hufflepuff."_

_I cringed. Granddad had already said that was the one house I would get disowned for being put in_

"_Okay, so actually family pride is a lot more important than that. You can't put me in Hufflepuff!"_

_The hat huffed "Well aren't you an easy customer today! You do realise the only reason I'm spending so long over this sorting is because you're an heir, right?"_

_I nodded mutely, still not really processing what that meant_

"_So, where would I fit?"_

"_So we can rule out Slytherin and Hufflepuff, yes?" _

_I nodded_

"_How does Ravenclaw sound? You're bright... very bright... and being an heir has given you strong magic..."_

_I scrunched my nose. I knew Granny would be pleased; she'd nearly been a Ravenclaw herself, and she did prise 'wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure' more than she let on to Granddad, who was so Slytherin he was pretty much their poster boy._

_But somehow I didn't really fancy Ravenclaw. I was too much of a wild child, too much of a rebel. I'd already broken away from my family at the age of eleven, I didn't follow rules. I lived by the phrase that rules were made so I could get a thrill out of breaking them. Only wusses did their homework, and only nerds used a library for studying purposes. _

_Oh I had nothing against libraries. I used the one at my grandparent's manor to find out loads of interesting jinxes and curses, trying them out on the poor, long suffering house elves._

_The hat saw this though "Ah. Very Slytherin, that is. Testing curses out on house elves."_

_I felt it open its mouth to finish the word it had begun earlier_

"_But I always ask them first! And if they say no then I test the curses on myself!"_

"_Well forgive me then. That's the first Gryffindor trait that I've seen." The hat told me, sounding a little surprised. Clearly the thought of the Heir of Slytherin having Gryffindor traits was less than conventional._

_I frowned. I knew my grandparents wouldn't be pleased with that, and I so desperately wanted them to like me. It was Slytherin or Ravenclaw, they were my choices_

_The hat fell silent for a while. My stomach kept practicing its rather rude back flips. What did the silence mean?_

_It was as though I could feel it flicking through my memories, invading my much coveted privacy. Even though that was all (excuse the pun) in my head, I still bristled a little at it._

"_Tell me about your parents... your father especially?"_

_I growled. In my head, obviously. I didn't want everyone to think I was a freak_

"_My father is a bastard." I hissed_

"_Touchy subject? The hat sneered_

"_You bet your ass it is. The amount of times I've taken a beating for my sister from him is disgusting. I would have brought Emma with me to Hogwarts if I could have done."_

_And then before I could think anything else the hat laughed wryly "You will be the only heir to not be in their own house, I'll say that. GRYFFINDOR!!!"_

_Everyone looked a little startled. Obviously it wasn't normal for the hat to change its mind halfway through shouting the name 'Slytherin', and change it to 'Gryffindor'._

_I took the hat off carefully, thanking it and smoothing my hair down, setting the hat back on the stool gently. It can't be nice spending your whole life in an office and then being rammed on and off a bunch of eleven year old kids._

_Gryffindor was stood up, cheering and jeering at the Slytherin table. _

_I looked around the crowded table, trying to find a place to sit. I couldn't see Liv from where I was stood, all I could see was a bunch of scary looking Big Kids, and three boys, first years, laughing at something one of them had said. _

_I'd grown out of the 'boy germs' phase about a year before that. Now they were back to just other kids, like me. _

_I was confident enough to joke about boyfriends, but I certainly didn't want one. _

"_Excuse me? Can I sit here?" I asked the one with red hair_

_He looked at me for a second, and then laughed in my face, turning back to the dark haired boy_

"_Did you hear that, James? The little Slytherin wannabe wants to sit with us!"_

_The dark haired boy - James – laughed loudly, like a donkey braying_

"_Oh Merlin, that's hilarious! Just imagine that, the son of Harry Potter, sitting with a Slytherin!"_

_My eyes narrowed into slits "My grandparents were both in Slytherin. I'm the h..." _

_I paused, looking at the red head and James. Why should they have any right to know about that? Damn, I'd only just found out myself!_

"_You're the...?" The red head taunted_

_A girl looked down at us from further up the table. She was beautiful, probably in her OWL or lower NEWT year, with silky blond hair and perfect creamy skin_

"_Fred, behave."_

_The red haired boy opened his mouth to retort, but the blonde raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow, and Fred fell silent._

_I could feel myself prickling more and more. What the hell was wrong with these two?!?_

"_Hey, Dannie, I'm sorry..." said the third boy, who I hadn't really noticed_

_I looked at him in surprise_

"_What are you doing hanging around with idiots like them?" I huffed_

_The third boy bristled immediately "They're my friends!"_

_I just turned my nose up. If he wanted to stick up for those jerks then he's just as much of an ass wipe as they are._

_I marched off towards the blonde girl with the cool eyebrows._

_She was surrounded by (quite literally) drooling boys. I suddenly felt pretty intimidated_

"_Er... s'cuse me?"_

_She looked up and gave me a million dollar smile "Hi sweetie! Come and sit with me... my cousins are idiots, trust me I know."_

_And that was that. Victorie was the first person who introduced me to the world of beauty. After the feast had finished she showed us to the dorms, and I met up with Liv again. I told Liv all about Victorie, and she didn't believe I'd become friends with a girl in her fifth year, so we went to find Vic. _

_Vicki was the person I went to with... 'big girl' problems. Like when I started my periods _**(A/N: any boys... DEAL WITH IT; IT'S JUST AS MUCH A PART OF LIFE AS ANYTHING ELSE!!!) **_and when I wanted to dye my hair, and how to walk in heels, and how to flirt, and how to put on eyeliner without stabbing yourself and permanently blinding yourself._

_By the time she became head girl, she very told me (rather tipsily at a quidditch party) that I was making her so proud and that I had just as much Vela charm as she did, and I wasn't even related. _

_I have to say, I have a lot to thank that particular Weasley for. Although Kiki probably owes her more, seeing as Kiki was a complete prude when she first arrived, fresh from her African palace._

_Vic was so funny with Teddy. They'd had a love/hate thing going on pretty much since they were born. Although in the letters the now Mrs Lupin sends me, they now have a love/hate/hot make-up sex relationship._

_Ah... er... too much info, me thinks..._

I pulled out of my own little personal bubble and looked around, trying to pretend I hadn't just drifted off...

Ginny looked outraged "You've already met the equivalent of the parents, James, and I've not even had a letter?"

Ah. That's where we were... I remember now.

"That's not true! Tell them it's not true Dannie!"

"Ah, it's so nice to know my boyfriend has balls. Nope, you're on your own. Besides, I've never been very good with parents. I live on my own, remember?"

He grumbled under his breath

"I met her grandparents when Lu and I were visiting Dan in hospital. Her Gran was going on and on about how I was 'Daniela's Potter' and how 'adorable' and 'cute' I was. And this is all before we were even going out. Besides, we only started going out last night at the quidditch after party. We won, by the way. Dan caught the snitch in under an hour."

Harry seemed happy with it, grinning and hugging his son, and surprising me by hugging me too, but Ginny was stood in a rather threatening pose, still glaring at James

"Here, I'll fix it." I sighed, shaking my head in mock frustration, flicking my wand and conjuring a piece of parchment and a quill, and then getting the quill to write a letter:

_Dear Mum, _

_I am now going out with Dannie. We started going out at the party after the match with Hufflepuff which we won._

_Love Jamie._

I handed it to James, who handed it to Ginny.

"Hahaha..... Jamie?!?" Ginny said, looking at her son

"What?!" my boyfriend said, looking at me in horror

"Oh, I'm, sorry. So it's Jam Jam or nothing, yeah?"

"Alright Dan Dan."

Ha. Foolish boy. If he thinks Dan Dan is as offensive as Jam Jam then he is sorely mistaken. At least I don't sound like something that would appear at a 'bananas in pyjamas' convention.

"Right. So Ginny, what were you going to tell me?" I asked

I saw both Ginny's and Harry's body language tighten, and I drew subconsciously closer to Jam Jam. Something was wrong

"Can we go somewhere private?" Harry asked "I assume you're okay with James... sorry, Jam Jam knowing?"

I nodded mutely as they led us into an empty classroom and put a charm on the door.

"Have a seat." Harry continued.

"there's no easy way to tell you this. Koff is just human. But someone was controlling him, using an illegal curse,"

"The imperious?" I asked, completely intrigued, despite the initial terror

Harry nodded grimly "This isn't good, you know. Either the person doing it was targeting you directly, which is severely dangerous to you, or they're targeting a group of people, in which case we need to identify this group and protect them, or it was unlucky chance that you were hurt, and that you were hurt simply by accident, as opposed to the person who Koff was supposed to hurt."

"Dad, this isn't the only time she's been targeted. There was that time with the snitch." James cut in, looking anxiously at me

I felt my stomach tighten. "He's right! The snitch was cursed; it flew up and up and up, far too high to be normal, and when it finally let me catch it, the moment I grabbed it, I lost consciousness, making me plummet towards the ground. I spent two weeks in the hospital wing because of it. Madam L was really worried about me because I shouldn't have been out that long, despite my injuries."

"Well, we can't jump to conclusions, but that seems far too suspicious to pass of." Harry said, writing everything down

"Dad! Are you mad? It's obviously related; how could it not be?!?"

"James, what you have to understand is that no matter how solid your hunch is, you have to have evidence to be able to do anything. You can't just link a crime because it seems to make sense. I don't know the science of it, but is it possible that Dannie got so high there wasn't enough oxygen to support the strenuous exercise she was doing, making her pass out? Could she have some kind of underlying health problem, than just by chance showed up at that time? Sure, it seems most likely that Koff is linked with this, but we don't _know_."

"But Dad, when I get into trouble at school, Aunt Minnie just does this funny wave thing with her wand and then a glowy, shimmery thing appears above whatever it is that I've pranked, and she knows immediately that it was me. Why can't you do that to find out who did it?"

"James, that's your magical signature. Whenever you cast a spell, you leave your mark on it, as everyone's magic is slightly different, just like everyone's handwriting is slightly different. But it's pretty easy to forge someone's signature, unless it's really complicated. I mean, even I can do it well enough to fool McG." I told him. Honestly, I don't think that boy ever reads his textbooks.

Harry looked impressed "You do realise that's way beyond NEWT level charms, don't you?"

I shrugged, thinking back through the attack, trying to see if I could recognise the style.

"Wait, Harry, why did Koff bite me if he was human? Why on earth would someone get Koff to bite me, now that we know Koff was under imperious?"

Harry looked truly baffled for a moment "You know, I'd completely forgotten about that."

Good dear lord. It's so nice to know that the country's bad guys are being fought by the guy who forgets I was BITTEN!!!

"Dannie, sweetie, has anything strange happened since the bite. To you, I mean?" Ginny asked

"No..." I trailed off. The being thing hadn't started until the bite had happened, had it? My eyes widened. Could that be linked with it?

"Yes. Yes it has. Every time I shut my eyes, I can... sense people. I call them beings, and they're almost like a feeling. Once I know people well, I can pick out their being in a crowd and such. For instance, James and Fred's beings are kind of similar, but James's is more... leader like, whereas Fred's has an almost lemon-y tang to it. McG's is really complicated, and some of it is blocked."

Out of interest I shut my eyes, testing Harry and Ginny's. Surprisingly, their beings were closely knit together, almost as one. I could still tell there was two different people there, but they were truly halves of a whole. Ginny had a strangely floral feel to her, and she was very caring, loving, but with a sort of fire in her I'd never noticed before. Harry's was the most complex being I'd come across yet. The parts I could understand were very like James's. I can't pretend to understand it.

"And yours, Ginny, is rather floral, very caring and loving, but with a lot of passion. Harry, yours is similar to James', but more complex. If I'm honest, I don't really understand it."

They looked at me a little funny, and then I realised Harry was blushing slightly. I raised an eyebrow at him and he mumbled something about 'Ginny' 'floral' and 'Amortentia'. I smirked

"Amortentia, hey? When did you first realise? That you were in love with Ginny, I mean?"

"Anyone ever told you you'd make a good auror?" he asked, changing the subject

"I'm sorry? No. No they haven't. I don't want to be an auror anyway. Don't get me wrong, my best subject is probably DADA, after potions of course, but me, Liv and Kiki are going to set up a Fairy Godmother business in Diagon Alley, which would be like a makeover salon. So thanks for the compliment, but it's not really for me."

* * *

I told Harry and Ginny everything about the time stopping, the beings, and the lot. Well, I missed out the dream. But it was only a dream. It's hardly important.

It turned out that we hadn't seen anyone all morning because everyone had run to the Great Hall to meet Harry Potter, when word got around he was visiting. Seems as though the middle Potter was the only one who didn't rush to see the Savoir of the Wizarding World.

"You haven't seen Al, have you?" Harry had asked us. We both shook our heads "no..."

* * *

James and I spent the rest of the day simply wandering around the grounds, chatting about pointless stuff. It was nice that I could be friends with the guy I was going out with; I'm so used to having a 'boyfriend' for the physical stuff, and never actually talking to them.

"You know, my parents really like you." He commented, as we settled under the tree by the lake

I smiled at this, albeit a little worriedly "Are you sure? Your dad clearly didn't think we were going to end up together. I mean, he bet against it!"

James laughed, pulling me closer to him "He didn't. Well, he did. But my mum has him wrapped around her little finger, so she probably could tell what was going to happen and made him bet against it, just so she had the satisfaction of watching him do the dishes. My mum's like that."

"Oh. My grandparents are completely different. They love each other, but their relationship always seems more... business like."

He looked at me cautiously, like he wasn't sure how I would react to his question "Was it an arranged marriage?"

"No... actually, I'm not sure, you know. I suppose it could have been. I've never thought to ask. Seemed rude, you know?"

James nodded, playing with my hair and staring like some kind of Greek god out over the lake, as the Sunday sun set (Haha... take that stupid ancient runes professor! I CAN do alliteration, just only in English!)

I smiled and settled down with my head on his lap, enjoying the feeling of his hands on my hair, twiddling and braiding it.

You know, one of the serious plus sides with having James as my boyfriend was that I was allowed to stare at him, proper stalkerish, and not be called a stalker, because staring rites belonged to me as the girlfriend. Hahaha... take that suckers! He's all mine!

"Whoa... that's one evil little smirk on your face." He said, raising his eyebrows at me

"Well... I was just thinking about all those other suckers who no longer are allowed to stare at you and not be called stalkers!" I said, feeling increasingly happy as I said the words

He looped an arm under me, pulling me up to him, pressing his lips to mine

As per usual, I was still startled at the absolutely sickeningly... fairytale sparks that I got from him touch, the feel of him teasing my lips open, running his tongue against mine, gently nibbling on my bottom lip. And he tasted just... right. I don't really even know how to explain it, it was just James. But I wouldn't change it.

I moaned slightly, trying not to inflate his ego too big, but not being able to stay silent for much longer

He smirked against my neck, his tongue darting out teasingly. I shifted upwards, squirming like some kind of demented Flobberworm until I was straddling him, ignoring the fact that my already short school skirt was now exposing much more than McG would have liked, despite the pleats.

He pulled away from whatever damage he was creating on my neck (poor, poor neck. The amount of colour change charms it already had on it was quite criminal and totally worth it) to look at me.

And I know most girls would rather have Fred's blue eyes on a guy, or Malfoy's grey ones(*shudder*), or even Mat's almost amber ones, and that James's brown eyes were plain, but they weren't. They were possibly my favourite feature. They were just so expressive and full of life and mirth and general James-ness.

My eyes flicked down to his lips. They weren't overly full, or overly dark, but they were a little puffy from the snogging, not that I was complaining. I'm glad they're not overly girly though – I can't stand boys that look like girls.

I set off placing chaste kisses all around his mouth, close enough to seriously annoy him, far enough away to seriously annoy him. At first he didn't seem to respond, and I was beginning to wonder if I should just get back to properly kissing him, before a teacher turned up, but then he let out a low moan, pushing me closer to him, one hand going under my chin in an effort to hold me still, make me kiss him properly.

But I smirked and carried on, now trailing my tongue along his lips, lightly, ignoring his increasing moans

"Stop it." He growled finally, and I looked up into his eyes, startled to find them so dark and full of lust. And yes, if you were wondering, I was pretty damned turned on.

Flobberworm.

That is my new swear word, by the way.

Before I had a chance to do anything, he had smashed his lips to mine, not even bothering with the politeness of waiting until I opened my mouth for him. This was James after I'd teased him, and I needed to remember that.

But I'm not about to complain. Where he was normally sweet and soft, he was suddenly much stronger and more passionate. For the first time his hands began to wander slightly from my back and hair, slipping down to hover lightly over my boobs, through my shirt.

Now here's the embarrassing thing. I'm ticklish, on my boobs. And as James wasn't even touching very hard, it was pretty damned ticklish. I tried and tried to not focus on the squirmy, giggly feeling, and focus on his mouth over mine, but honest to Merlin, I was struggling

He began to lightly draw circles, one hand going to undo the top few buttons while the other continually tortured me.

In the end I settled for squiggling around a bit, hopefully pressing myself closer to him, so it wouldn't tickle as much. As it was, James seemed to suddenly snap out of whatever little daze he was in and pull away from me, looking at me like a child caught holding a cat by its tail

"I'm sorry... carried away..." He mumbled, clearly trying to focus on my eyes, but his eyes kept drifting downwards, only to be yanked upwards again like a badly behaving puppet

"James, that's not the problem, honestly, I was enjoying it, but, er, my boobs are, well... ticklish!"

He blinked in shock at me

I nodded solemnly "You have no idea how off-putting it is when you're trying to snog someone and they keep tickling you! If you want to touch, you have to touch a bit harder than that, so I don't laugh my ass off!"

"Oh!" he said, clearly still a little dazed. Then he smirked and his eyes darkened, and he pulled me back for another go.

That night me and Liv sat up in our dorm (after putting a silencing charm around our two beds so the others wouldn't hear us talking and laughing), just like we always used to.

I picked up Eric, snuggling up to his soft fur. He was always so sleepy, and I was beginning to worry that he wasn't normal. Liv assured me he probably had a party with Hagrid every day, with Fang, but I was wondering if Hagrid wasn't tiring him out too much...

"So how's Andy?" I asked, as Liv painted my toe nails

"Oh... he's good, I guess. I've not really seen him as much recently, I've been really busy, but I'm sure we'll find time. So how's James?" she said, looking momentarily upset

I smiled. "James is absolutely wonderful. It's just like with you now, you know, I can talk to him about anything. And sure, sometimes he goes all over protective or into Idiot Mode, but he really seems to care about me. I can't believe I went six years hating him."

We both giggled at that. "So..." Liv said with a smirk "How far have you two gone?"

"Actually, he's a complete gentlemen, surprisingly enough. Honest to god, the only thing he's done so far is hands wandering a little, but he was so light that the booby tickling problem raised its ugly head." I laughed along with Liv at that "God, do you remember that Ravenclaw I went out with last year?"

"Was that the one who practically lived in a broom cupboard, and wanted you to do the same, or the one who used to constantly tickle your poor boobs, to the point where you were complaining to me and Kiki about it so often that we named them; the left one Gwendolyn and the right one Beatrice?"

I laughed properly at that. I was actually meaning the broom cupboard dwelling one, but the tickler brought back unpleasant memories. At least when James tickled he was doing it out of courtesy.

"Ah yes. That's right, Livy, Broom Cupboard Richie. Although Richard can be shortened to Dick, you know."

"Aw he can't be as bad as that Gryffindor seventh year that I may just have used last year..."

Ah yes. Liv jokes about that. Well it wasn't funny. He all but tried to rape her.

"So are you and James up to the 'meet the parents' stage?"

I giggled

"Actually, we're past that. I met them almost three weeks ago now."

"What?!? That's before we even fell out, and you didn't tell me?!"

"Okay. So I met them before we were going out, and you did know about it. Do you remember when I got attacked by the caretaker? Well I met them then. But I met them again today you know, and I was properly introduced as The Girlfriend. It seems as though Ginny and Harry had bet on us getting together anyway, because Harry now has to do the dishes for a month because he lost."

"So when is he meeting your grandparents?"

"Hahaha... keep up Liv, he's already met them, as The Boyfriend, even though he wasn't at the time. I'm amazed Granny didn't do that thing with his cheeks, you know where people mush them together and talk in baby talk at you because they think you're adorable? Anyway, she was going on and on about 'My Potter'. It was all pretty embarrassing. She's probably writing the wedding invitations as we speak."

"Oh god that would be the wedding of the century. The heir of Slytherin, who is in fact a Gryffindor, marrying the Gryffindor prince, who is in fact Harry Potter's son."

Sometimes, no matter how much I love my Livy, I regret telling her vital teasing information like the fact that I'm Heir of bloody Slytherin.

Liv started laughing so hard she was rolling around, almost squishing Eric

"Oh god... promise me I get to be bridesmaid...hahahaha.........hahaha...."

"Shut up Liv."

* * *

The next morning I woke and went for a run with Liv for the first time in ages. By the time we got back my legs were aching, and I was feeling more than a little guilty that I'd not run in so long.

We'd taken Eric with us to try to get him to perk up a bit, and it did seem to work. On our way back we dropped him off with Hagrid to save the elves a job, and he seemed very pleased to see Fang, so maybe Liv was right about him partying his days away.

We showered, got dressed and ready, all as early as we could, and then ate some muesli and yogurt in the kitchens. We really wanted to be there when our pranks started work.

Liv had suggested we used a surveillance charm, like we had to find out about the Marauder's Map, but we decided against it; it is illegal, whereas the pranks are just against the rules.

We walked slowly down to the Entrance Hall, which Albus, Sunny and Iris would have to go through to get to get breakfast in the Great Hall.

It was perfect timing. The Hall was almost completely full when they finally decided to grace it with their presence. I'm guessing from their expressions that they were late because they'd already had to negotiate quite a few of our booby traps.

It was brilliant. They all walked through together, so they all changed together. There they were, in full view of everyone eating breakfast, as fluffy, black sheep.

Needless to say, everyone was laughing their heads off.

Liv and I scuttled away so we couldn't take the blame when McG stormed down the Hall towards the offending sheep, wand already out and at the ready.

It had taken quite a bit of perfecting, but I'd managed to come up with a highly complicated signature, so she shouldn't be able to trace it to me, she'd trace it to Malfoy. See this way, we kill two birds with one stone, because no matter how... stupid Kiki and Rose are being, Malfoy still shouldn't have said that to Rose.

Liv didn't know I'd done that though. Sometimes it can be hard for Liv to keep her mouth shut, so I'd gone with the 'what you don't know can't kill you' idea.

All throughout the day, stories of Albus, Iris and Sunny's... misfortunes spread. Every time we heard of a new one, Liv and I would crack up. By lunch, McG had traced it to Malfoy, who was now looking paler than usual, and so she was now trying to find the Ferret. However, similar to a ferret, the boy had managed so far to evade any form of punishment by simply disappearing every time a teacher showed up, annoyingly.

By dinner, however, he wasn't doing so well. I was sat on James's knee, feeding him crisps over my shoulder as I chatted to Liv, ignoring the gagging noises from Fred.

"Look!" Liv suddenly said, pointing towards the Slytherin table.

And true enough, there was Malfoy, looking like he was about to crap himself, with McG towering over him, wand raised.

Personally, I think he went about it all the wrong way. If he wanted to look guilty, he was doing a pretty good job of it.

The whole hall seemed to stop and watch and stare as Malfoy was dragged out of the hall.

Me and Liv shared a look and then cracked up. It was just the look on his face that did it.

* * *

After that, the week dragged a bit. Well, the lessons did.

James and I were spending any free time we had in the library, looking through hundreds of bloody books, trying to find anything that could help. The librarian seemed to have hidden the book with the symbols and 'being' written on the back cover, because I simply couldn't find it.

"Why don't we just Accio her?" James asked

"Because say she's in a house, then she'd be dragged through a wall, across possibly hundreds of miles, to be dragged through the castle walls, not to mention all the muggles who could see her."

"Oh."

Sometimes we'd find a spell that looked promising, and I'd get my hopes up, and then it wouldn't work. James would hug me and kiss me softly and tell me we'd find her, but right at that moment, Emma seemed to be slipped further and further out of reach.

"Why are you doing this the magic way?" Liv asked "Your dad's a squib; he'll have to hide her the muggle way."

So then we sent an owl to James's aunt Hermione, who sent us a phone book back with the same owl.

We sat down and leafed through it, looking under Locket. I had never realised how many Lockets there were in the UK.

We narrowed it down to a list of about ten numbers, but then we were stuck. We couldn't get a phone to work at Hogwarts. And that's why the week dragged; there was a Hogsmead trip at the weekend, and I simply couldn't wait to get there and use my I-phone.

James had suggested just using the passage under the whomping willow, but now that all the teachers knew all of the passages, sneaking out was far more difficult that it had been for James's dad and granddad.

We would just have to wait.

* * *

_Okay..._

_Please don't tell me there aren't any Gaunts left, because I __know __that. It's my story, and its fan FICTION. Not that Harry Potter's real in the first place (sniff, sniff)_

_Anyway, reviews are always mucho appreciated, and thank you for reading!!!!_

_Besides, I think I deserve some kind of congratulations for getting this long a chapter out so soon after my other epically long chapter. Ah... the joys of sounding conceited..._


	14. Eyebrows'

_Next chapter! Thank you to everyone who's supported this story, it means a lot to me! Hope you all enjoy this next chapter!_

* * *

Me, James, Fred and Mat wandered down the central highstreet of what was now a thriving town. Apparently, before and during the War, Hogsmead was pretty much just a single row of shops along the main street, with the houses clustering around it. Now, it was a place almost as big as Diagon Alley, though not quite.

People kept staring at me a lot, but I suppose that's what comes of hating the Idiots for all my life and then suddenly going out with their ring leader.

"Sheesh, Dan, listen to you complaining! I'd expected way, way worse than this. I think you got of lightly." Liv had told me when I winged at her. And I suppose she's right, although I'm guessing she's the main reason why there wasn't too much gossip. Liv is pretty much the gossip queen of Hogwarts, after all.

Fred was still making annoying gagging noises when me and James so much as held hands, but at least he'd stopped sending he killing gazes every ten minutes or so. I'd actually found that he wasn't as sadistic as I'd originally thought, and that there was way more guerrilla warfare going on between the boys of Gryffindor and the stuck up pricks of Slytherin than I had originally realised.

I guess they keep it from the girls, as it really isn't very attractive to realise that they prank each other just because they want to, whereas at least Liv, Kiki and I waited until we had a solid reason to, such as with Albus, Sunny and Iris.

On the subject of them, I'd simply been ignoring them. Well, more like avoiding them, but same difference. I figured that James, despite all the animosity between him and his brother, wouldn't thank me for jelly-legging Albus and his minions as he stood there. For all James may not be, he is very protective.

I got the feeling that when you told one of the boys something; it automatically meant that all of them knew. They seemed to be that way; much closer than I had originally realised.

"What do you mean, _Fred knows_? You said you wouldn't tell anyone!!" I had yelled at a rather pale and worried James, after Fred had somehow slipped into conversation "How's Emma?"

I stormed off screaming and shouting in a most lady like manner, but surprisingly Liv completely sided with James. The boys were far too close for us to comprehend, and besides, when someone told me a secret, I always automatically took that to mean that I could tell Liv at least, if not Kiki too. Why was this any different?

Thankfully I didn't have to dent my pride at all and grovel for forgiveness, as it seems James did that part himself. After being showered with flowers, chocolates and another list of possible Emma locating spells for a day (yes, I know, I'm pretty pathetic for only lasting a day), I ended up dragging him off to the astronomy tower and snogging his brains out. Although not literally, because that would just be disgusting.

"Where's Liv?" Fred asked curiously as we stepped inside WWW

"Well, she's got this Hufflepuff, who she's pretty convinced is 'the one' and I think she wanted to meet up with him."

James looked horrified "You mean your best friend chose to go off with some random guy, when today's the day we're ringing those numbers??!?"

I shrugged. Liv had promised to meet us at the Hog's Head for lunch, where we could hopefully ring the numbers. Besides, unless you haven't noticed, Liv is one of these people who compromises, and I think that's what she was doing here. She would be with me to ring those numbers, but she would also be there with Andy to show she cared about him.

"She's ditching him by lunch and meeting us at the Hog's Head to ring them, remember?"

The boys all frowned in unison, but none of them commented.

* * *

'Uncle' George, as he asks everyone to call him (honestly, even the little thirdies who come in and buy Dungbombs) was more than happy to see the boys. In fact, despite claiming on regular occasions that I was his favourite non-related customer, he didn't even acknowledge me as I stepped inside a little after the boys after throwing a Honeyduke's wrapper in the bin. Not that I was overly bothered, seeing as my mind was completely and utterly focused on Emma.

I was beginning to think it was a stupid mistake to say I could wait until lunch time.

"Dan! Come over here and give your uncle George a hug!" He boomed, striding over to where I was stood, petting the pygmy puffs

"Uncle Georgie Porgie!!!" I shrieked, running over to him

"The Idiots are here," He whispered half serious, half jokingly in my ear "You wanna use the back exit?"

I set of laughing. Honestly, I'd assumed the family grapevine of the Potter/Weasley family was faster than this!

"James!" I shouted behind me, to where the boys were stood, looking at the latest range of who knows what

"Hmm?" He asked as he sauntered over, and casually slung an arm round my shoulder, pressing his lips softly to my cheek

George let go of me instantly, gaping like a trout and saying something unintelligible

I grinned at him "You need some water, Uncle George?"

* * *

"Hold on, you're telling me that no spell will find your sister, but you're expecting a _muggle_ device to be able to?!?" Fred asked, looking half way between giving me a sympathy hug and laughing his guts out

"Hey! I've lived most my life as a muggle, mister, don't you forget that!" Mat said, nudging Fred hard in the ribs, making him stumble a little

"Nah, he's right Mat. It does seem a little stupid. But my dad's a squib, so he has to do everything the muggle way. Maybe there is some hope in this, right?" I said, trying desperately to not get my hopes up, at the same time as trying to not throw myself off my broom from despair.

James gave me a lop-sided hug "You never know until you try." He whispered

By the time we were heading down the path to the rickety old pub, I was seriously doubting if this was a good idea or not. In fact, was I _mad_? My whole 'Gryffindor bravery' seemed to have flown out of the window, leaving me feeling distinctly Hufflepuff. Or maybe even Slytherin, seeing as I was being horribly selfish. Half of me was jumping for joy at the possibility of finding Emma, the other half was having a mental breakdown at my father possibly knowing where I was.

The four of us walked into the dark, dusty pub and sat in a booth by the window, the only source of light. The bar tender was technically an extremely old man named Aberforth, but he was too old to do much more than poor a pint of beer and then sit down again. Mostly this young girl stood behind the bar.

She was ghostly pale and horrifically thin, which surprised me more than a little, as I knew Aberforth wouldn't be starving her, although everyone knew she lived at the pub. No one knew where she came from; just that she had apparently turned up one day, looking for a place to sleep, and preferably a job, and Aberforth had given her that. She had pale brown hair, and a very forgettable face. For some reason, she unnerved me more than I'd let on.

Perhaps it was her being; a twisted, Slytherin thing, a little like a cornered wild animal, snapping and biting at everything around it. Alike to McG's, some of it was blocked out. I frowned over my butterbeer.

Liv arrived two and a half minutes late, very red in the face and panting. "I'm so sorry I'm late! This poor little first year was lost and I had to help him!"

I snorted half my butterbeer back through my nose. There's the Livy I love. Constantly coming up with ridiculous answers to unquestioned questions.

"But Hogsmead trips are only for third years and up, right?" James asked, looking slightly bemused

Fred slapped a hand over his forehead.

Liv took the butterbeer we'd ordered her silently off Mat, sending him a dirty look, which startled me slightly, seeing as I had assumed she'd completely forgotten about Mat being rude to her, now that she was all over Andy every minute of the day.

"Er... so, you got the fellytone?" Fred asked, looking falsely eager.

Liv giggled "Fellytone?!?"

"oh shut up." The red head grumbled, going slightly pink and clashing wonderfully with his hair

James pulled out the directory and inflated it back up to normal sized and I fished out my I-phone and The List.

There they were. The numbers. I laid the list and my phone on the table, all of us looking at them expectantly.

"Has it got signal?" Liv asked cautiously

I picked it up gingerly, like it would bite. The bloody nerves were really getting to me. There on the screen was one, single green bar. Just a little bit of signal, and I would have to hope that was enough

In the end I was too coward to even dial the numbers, and Liv did it for me instead, all the while moaning on and on about how amazing my phone is and how shit her's is. Maybe I'll buy her one for Christmas.

The pub was eerily quiet, a few lone people sat at the bar, talking in hushed tones, one or two people sat here and there eating. I felt cautious; was this really the best place to come? I mean, honestly? What was I thinking?!?

"It's ringing." Liv told me softly, holding the phone out.

I listened to the rings, getting more and more nervous as I did so. What the hell was I going to say? "Hi, I'm looking for my long lost little sister, and I think she might live here. She's eleven, blonde, blue eyes, called Emma Locket, and adorable?" I think not.

"Hello?" a female voice asked.

I stayed silent, despite the glares of my friends

"Hello? Is anyone there?" the voice said again

"Oh, er," I stuttered "My name is Dannie Locket, and I know this sounds stupid, but I'm trying to find my little sister. She's called Emma."

There was silence, and then the woman said in a very quiet, sympathetic voice "I'm sorry honey, she's not here."

"Thanks." I whispered and hung up.

And so it went on. An Asian family who struggled to understand my English through the crackly signal, an elderly man who was convinced I was prank calling him, a young child who just kept telling he that her mummy wasn't in at the moment.

The last number on the list. I looked at it dolefully, before typing it in and waiting as the rings sounded in my ear.

"Hello?" came a quiet, female voice, sounding shy

"Hello. My name is Dannie," I paused

"Sarah." She told me

"Er, right. I'm from the Education Board, I'm ringing up about an eleven year old girl you have living with you?" I asked. The attempts of telling the truth hadn't been very successful, so after the second family I'd taken to lying

"Oh. You mean Milly?"

I frowned

"Is that a nickname, by chance?" I asked, crossing my fingers

"Oh, er, I think it's short for Emilia, but I'm not certain. I'm just their baby sitter, you see."

Emilia was similar to Emma, wasn't it? Or was I getting my hopes up unnecessarily?

"Okay, can you describe Milly to me please?" I asked

The woman seemed a little uncertain as to whether she should be doing this but she answered anyway

"Well, I've not been helping he father out for very long, he's a single parent, you see, but Milly's always very... respectful, you know? Never answers back, never doubts what's going on. She's a bit thinner than some kids, I guess, but whenever I'm here and I cook for her she eats it all up. She's a little shorter than some kids her age, but her dad's pretty tall, so I'm guessing her mum's really short. She's pretty bright, you know? Good kid."

I could feel my brain going faster than I could really understand, so I just kept asking the first questions that I could think of

"And what about her hair?"

"Oh it's a light honey brown colour, in beautiful little princess curls."

I felt my heart sink. Emma was so blonde, there was no way she'd have naturally changed hair colour that fast.

"But her eyebrows, they're too pale for the colour of her hair, you know?"

And then I heard a door slam, a small shriek, and the telephone line went dead.

I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared blankly at it. No fucking way. That did not just happen to me.

* * *

After a good ten minutes of agonizing silence, in which we all stared sullenly at the phone and the list, complete with its rude crossing-offs of the wrong numbers, and the even more offensive circle around the last number. I felt pretty much frozen; I didn't react when James put an arm around me and gently drew me closer to his side, or when Liv patted my leg consolingly.

I tried ringing the number back again, but it went to the 'beep' noise before it had even rung, so I'm guessing the phone was pulled out of the wall.

I felt like I was stuck somewhere between falling and flying. Because on one hand, I seemed to have found my sister, whereas on the other hand, I seemed to have just proven to my father that I was a) looking for and b) had found her.

So he would probably just move her again, unless I could get there before he had the chance.

And that is the point in my life where I snapped. Where nothing seemed to matter anymore, about me, anyway. It didn't matter, if my father killed me, or if my grandparents hated me, or if I got kicked out of school, or even if I got seriously hurt in the process. Because I knew my friends were there for me, and I hoped my grandparents were as well. Because I should never have left Emma in the first place, and I wasn't about to abandon her again. She was suffering for my mistakes, and she was just an innocent child. Even worse, she was the sister I adored.

Liv looked absolutely terrified, her big, blue eyes wide, her pink lips popped open slightly. "You're not going back to school tonight, are you?" she whispered

The sudden rush of pure adrenalin was like a drug to me, making everything seem brighter and clearer and more vivid, and my senses sharper. I grinned a possibly very evil looking grin

"Why, Livy, I do believe you're right."

Livy seemed to snap out of 'sensible student' mode, and snap straight back into 'best friend' mode

"Well then I'm coming too. There's no way my little Dannie is going on an adventure without me, missy, so don't even think about it." She stated

If I hadn't been so hyped up with all the adrenalin, my eyes would have probably watered, and I would have given Liv a soppy hug.

"Are you both insane?!" Fred asked "You're planning on sneaking out of school, unaccompanied and not even planned, to rescue your little sister, who may or may not be at whatever address this fellytone number is registered to, from your evil, sick and twisted father, who may or may not try to kill you, just because someone on the other end of a phone line described a girl who sounded slightly like Emma?"

Liv smiled at him, the adrenalin clearly getting to her as well "Yes, but why pull a phone out of the wall when someone tells you that the eyebrows of the girl don't match her hair colour if you don't have something to hide?"

All the boys looked bemused

"They've clearly dyed her hair brown, but not darkened her eyebrows, thus we know she's blonde underneath." Liv said, slowly and clearly as if she was talking to toddlers

Mat was frowning, possibly thinking, but more as though something had gone severely wrong.

"What?" he snapped, when I raised a questioning eyebrow at him "What are you looking at?"

"So, Liv, you're coming with, right?" she nodded at me "Okay, anyone else in?"

Fred looked at me incredulously, as did Mat. James looked pained

"Dannie, I really don't know what to do. I honestly don't think any of us should be going, but I definitely don't want you going on your own."

I felt slightly stung by that, actually. I suppose it was just because I had expected him to unquestioningly go with me, as he had done on all the other occasions

He ran a hand through his hair anxiously.

That's when I realised he was having to pick either me or his friends. And much though it hurt, and it hurt a lot, I know I would pick Liv over James, and that's what he was doing, even though he probably didn't realise.

"Listen, James, I'm fine with whatever you're happy with, so please don't feel bad, alright? You stay with Fred and Mat, maybe you can get in some more research, right? Just in case this isn't Emma?"

He nodded mutely, not meeting my eyes.

Liv silently took the phone book and started leafing through it. She noted down the address silently on a napkin, and then stood up.

We all stood outside the pub, feeling a little like lemons

"So, er, bye!" I said, dithering around. The tension in the air was probably thick enough to tar a road with. I took a hesitant step towards James, who was still looking at his feet

"Hey." I told him, tilting his chin upwards. His eyes reluctantly met mine, and I felt the all too familiar swoop of my stomach. "You're not doing anything wrong, you know."

His eyes were darting back and forth between mine, as though he was the one about to face his demented father, not me. He looked trapped, like a scared animal.

I kissed him softly, trying to hold back, even though in my stress, all I wanted to do was pretty much rip his clothes off. He didn't even respond, and I pulled back, hurt.

He rubbed his neck awkwardly "Bye." He whispered.

I turned round and faced Liv "Ready?" she asked.

"Ready." I replied. And without looking back, we both stuck our wand hands out, and the Knight Bus screeched into view.

* * *

I got the feeling that if Liv wasn't so preoccupied on counting how many school rules we'd broken, she would probably have been spewing her guts out from the beloved Knight Bus's smooth, calming ride.

We got our tickets off the slightly overweight and slightly bumbling, just-out-of-Hogwarts boy, who stuttered at us to take a seat, all the while his eyes glued to just a lot too low to have been my eyes. We sat down, ignoring the inquisitive looks the old man in the corner, the two middle-aged witches and the very pompous old woman leering out of the window.

"Do you think students are allowed in the Hog's Head?" she began

I shrugged non-committed, and when back to trying to make sense of the blurred shapes flashing past the window

She fell silent

"Do you think we're allowed to use mobiles during school time?"

I shrugged, but feeling sorry for her, I added a really sophisticated grunt

All was silent

"What about lying to all those poor, unsuspecting muggles when we rang them? Is that against the school rules as well?"

I didn't even grace that one with an answer

Predictably, she was silent once again for a while, watching with avid curiosity as the old man hobbled off somewhere in Wales, the two middle-aged gossipers got off in Diagon Alley, leaving us with the stuck up old bat.

"Do you think it's against the rules to use magic in Hogsmead? Because James shrunk and expanded the directory, you know."

I rubbed my face wearily. It's times like this where I really appreciate why all the people like Rose (well, before I tried to make her life better, and she stabbed me in the back) say Liv is all boobs, no brains. And the fact that I'm not even bothering to try and calm down my best friend when she's clearly having a panic attack has probably given me the title of Queen Bitch.

Although I honestly think that's out of line, and not just because I'm bound to stick up for my best friend, and myself, but because I'm really not a bitch. Well, not all the time. And sure I'm vain, and a little conceited, and I always wear makeup and heels and almost always a skirt, and probably use more hair products than a salon. But I'll always stick up for the people I care about, I'll always protect them. Everyone has their bitchy moments, and we shouldn't be judged by our bad days, but by our good ones.

"Do you think we're gonna miss curfew?"

"Liv? Shut up."

"I'm blabbering aren't I? Like I do whenever you come up with some strange and frankly suicidal plan. D'you remember fourth year, when you found out about the tunnel under the Whomping Willow that leads to the Shrieking Shack? And then you were dead set on being able to use it?"

I cringed. That had been, in my defence, one of my more stupid plans, involving a catapult made of sixth and seventh year's bras, a large, old and overweight Cornish Pixie (that was the only one we could catch), a _very_ angry centaur, a picnic basket and about three months of detention from being caught repeatedly out of bounds.

All the same, we managed to find out how to stop the Willow, and then we made the catapult to fire the Pixie at the knot to stop the tree moving. The picnic basket was merely as incentive for the Pixie. And the angry centaur was caused by our awful aim with the home made catapult.

In the end though, we did manage to get into the passage, in fact, all the way right to the end, where the tunnel had collapsed. Pretty much a whole year wasted there, seeing as none of us were exactly able to cast a reducto charm strong enough to blast away a large amount of rubble without causing the tunnel to collapse.

The old bat in the corner huffed again, and then glared across at me. She looked vaguely familiar, so presumably she was part of Gran's little group of cronies.

"Would you shut that child up?" she hissed, seemingly to herself

I bristled "Oh, I'm sorry; I didn't quite catch your name amongst all that bitchy mumbling. I'm the granddaughter of the Gaunts? You probably know of them."

And yes, horrifically Slytherin of me, but I am the heir, I do have some rights to be a scheming bastard at times

The woman's lips curled up in a rather scary half grimace half leer type thing. "Wonderful. Pleasure to meet you."

I sneered at her. Cow.

"So what on earth is a respectable Slytherin like you doing outside school on a school day?" she asked, and I was struggling to understand this woman. Feeling a bit like I was intruding on her privacy, I shut my eyes, testing her.

Unfortunately, it wasn't even as nice as I had thought. In fact, I was struggling to find a single redeeming characteristic in this woman. I frowned, and tried to look deeper, assuming there must be something there that wasn't simple selfishness.

Perhaps I read her wrong?

I opened my eyes again and pretty much gawped at her.

"What are you doing on this bus anyway?" she snapped

That brought me back to reality pretty harshly. See I'd kinda shoved that thought away so I didn't have a panic attack.

"I'm off to save my baby sister." I said, my voice a strange mix of soft and spiteful

She sneered at me "Who do you think you are, Harry Potter?"

Liv put a hand warningly on my arm, so I tried to calm down a little "No, I don't suit round glasses."

The woman glared "insolent child."

"Well at least I didn't mistake a Hogwart's female, red haired student for Harry Potter."

"I do believe your grandmother deserves to know about how you are treating me, young lady. This is no way to respect your elders."

Childishly, I absolutely blew up "Oh, go on; run and tell Gran what I've done. What does it matter? Who cares? My Gran might hate me for life, though I highly doubt it. But if I don't go rescue Emma, then my bastard of a father will have KILLED her! Sometimes there are more important things in life than new robes, my Gran's tea parties, school grades and giving respect to batty, evil old women who don't even deserve it!"

I was stood, wand pointed at the cow, probably bright red in the face, breathing deeply. A flash of fear shot through her eyes, before she masked it with an offensive sneer

"I do believe this is your stop, _child_." She told me.

Liv grabbed my arm and hauled me off the bus, and it sped off, leaving us in the late October air, on a long forgotten lane, looking at the foreboding little cottage. It felt a bit like we were facing some sort of muggle fairy tale's witch's house.

I faltered. What the hell was I thinking I was going to do? In fact, was I insane? That stupid cow of a witch was right.

Liv seemed to have calmed into a sort of steely determination. She looked at me, frowning slightly.

"Right. Okay. Let's go rescue Emma!"

I grinned, feeling that much needed adrenalin suddenly swoosh through me

"Let's." I replied.

* * *

_Sorry that I ended it there! I had intended on finishing the scene where they go into the house, but I felt pretty bad that I've been so unreliable in how often I post... so I thought this was better than nothing, even if it is a cliffy! Sorry!  
_

_So what do you think happens? Just so you know, I'm not really a fan of everything being too predictable, and so I'm sorry if this has been so far! Any guesses? Please review! It gives me the incentive to keep writing! Well, actually I write anyway, but it gives me the incentive to post it!_

_Hope you enjoyed it! Is there anyone or anything you want to see more of in my story? Anyone who you think isn't being done justice? Is the story line getting too complicated? Please, please, PLEASE review!!!_


	15. Barriers

_Okay... I think I'm getting better at updating more often! _

_I just wanted to point out that I've had over 1600 views so far... yet only a measly 29 of you bothered to review. I'm not saying I expect hundreds of reviews, because I don't (not that I'd complain), but it would be nice to think that a few more of you could bother please! Even if it's just to say 'this is kinda average' or 'wow this is boring'. Honestly, PLEASE REVIEW!!!_

_Other than that, this chapter is where Dan finally learns a bit more about the 'beings'... from a very surprising person!_

_If you get really confused, just tell me and I'll send you a sort of summary... hopefully you'll all understand it though!_

_Enjoy!_

_And sorry there's not a lot (if any) of the boys in this chapter... go girl power!_

* * *

"Don't you think this is a bit rude, Dan?" Liv asked me as we snook into the house, using the back window

"No." I replied with a grimace. "I know my father's not home. I can't sense him, or anyone else. But I know Emma must be here, you know?"

She pursued her lips "So why can't you sense her?"

But I just ignored her. It's probably a glitch in my sense, nothing to worry about.

We tiptoed through the kitchen, noting the unwashed plates and dirty laundry in a pile. My nose scrunched up; I simply hate mess.

I didn't reply to Liv. I was kind of going on false hope that she was too far away for me to sense her – I'd still not gotten past that barrier I'd discovered in McG's office, and as a result, I could only sense people if they were close enough.

The kitchen door was ajar, leading into the hall way. The house was eerily quiet, especially considering that I knew there were at least two people in there.

Liv honestly looked like she was about to shit herself. She grabbed my wrist, trying to stop me going further into the hallway. I didn't even think about it. In fact, if I'd thought about it, I wouldn't have done it. With Liv holding fast to my arm, I shut my eyes.

As opposed to all the other times I'd used the being thingy, her being hadn't frozen like I'd expected. It was swirling, free and moving, much more alive than when it seemed frozen.

"What's going on, Dan?" She asked me. I started, but she didn't let go of my arm "Why are you glowing?"

I looked at my hand. I wasn't glowing. Honestly, you'd think I would have noticed if I was. Then I looked at Liv. She wasn't glowing; in fact she seemed to almost absorb light. The exact opposite of glowing.

"Holy shit! What have I done?" I wailed

"What do you mean?"

"Well, for one, I've just done my 'shut eye thing', with you holding my arm, and now I can hear your thoughts, and you're absorbing light! But it gets worse! I've opened my eyes now, obviously, but I can still sense all the beings, and your thoughts, and you're still absorbing light!"

She yanked her hand away, and everything faded to normal again

"Shit Liv! I think it's more what did _you_ do?" I whispered

Liv looked thoughtful "I don't think that was me. It must have been you, because I couldn't tell anything was different, other than you glowing. Which is even freakier than you seem to realise."

She looked thoughtful, almost like she was daydreaming, and then she snapped suddenly out of it

"Come on, Dan, we have to find her!"

Feeling literally sick with the responsibility, I followed Liv into the bare hallway, along, and through into a living room area. I paused and nearly had a panic attack. There on the wall was a moving picture, a magical one! I moved closer, staring at the picture of three teens laughing and waving at me. There was no name, or inscription, just the picture on a bare, pasty green wall.

Still the house was silent. We checked everywhere downstairs, now walking with our wands out, tense and ready to fight. I sighed and looked at the steep staircase.

The stairs creaked annoyingly, and each time another whine would be given off, me and Liv would freeze, like Mrs Norris (the tenth or something) in the wand-light.

I couldn't decide if it was good that the house was silent and empty, or if that was worse than finding my bloody father in the kitchen.

The stairs opened into a sort of landing space, with doors on either side of the corridor. The first door was a dusty, undecorated room, filled with cardboard boxes and general rubbish. Still, not wanting to miss anything, we had a quick look through it. We didn't find either a person, or anything else magic-related.

The next room was a simple bathroom, with a toilet, sink and shower. It all looked fairly, erm, DIY, and I'm not sure I'd even have trusted the shower to have stayed up, never mind about work.

There were two more doors, opposite each other. Liv and I stood between them, trying to decide which one to open first, as pathetic as that sounds.

"Together?" I asked

She nodded slightly "Three, two, one..."

I stepped forward, and grabbed the door handle, just in time to feel the tell tale jolt somewhere in my middle, pulling me forward, and with a horrible, sinking feeling, the port key stole me away and whisked me off to Voldemort knows where.

I took a deep breath, trying to steady my suddenly hammering heart. Shit. Shit. SHIT!!!

I looked around. I was stood in our old kitchen, the sagging table, the pale, worn wooden cabinets, and the off white sink.

It was just as I remembered it, although I knew if now almost certainly didn't look like this. New muggles would have moved in, and changed it. So this either wasn't real at all and I was dreaming, or it was a fake kitchen, possibly in a fake house.

I walked forward, trailing an index finger lightly over the grain of the table. This was so not going to plan. Where was Liv? Was she alright?

A noise from the doorway made me jump round and face it, wand at the ready.

My father snarled "Darling. You're home."

My breathing sped up. Was this real or fake? Was it worth the risk?

"Yes Daddy."

I crossed my fingers, hoping I hadn't just made a big mistake.

He leered at me, and then surprisingly turned on his heels and left. I let out a sigh of relief, and then another sigh of annoyance. I'd just had the perfect opportunity to stun him, and I didn't?

Anger with myself gave me confidence, and I followed where he'd gone, leaving the familiar room and heading along the hallway.

There was no one in any of the rooms downstairs, so I made my way up the familiar stairs, feeling pretty much out-of-body, like this wasn't actually happening to me, but to someone else.

I checked my parent's room first, which I found to be completely empty, not even any furniture, or a single photo hanging on the wall.

I blinked stupidly at it, but then again, what was I expecting? Mum? Was I insane?

Actually, don't answer that.

Next I checked the bathroom, which was similarly empty, just the bare suit looking cold and empty.

I checked my room, and had to stifle a gasp. It looked exactly as it had done when I had taken that one last look at it, after I'd packed my tiny little hold-all, and then turned to leave. Nothing had changed, and that hurt. I haven't even a clue why, but I'm certain it would've made me feel better if the room was blank and empty like the others.

It was like even the house was mocking me. 'Look! Your room was the only strange one. Your room was the only one that was weird. You are the one that sticks out.'

And that hurt.

I shut the door quickly and trudged onwards, suddenly not sure if I even wanted to touch the last door knob; Emma's. And no, that wasn't just some strange sentimental thingy, what if it was a port key as well?

Besides, my father hadn't been anywhere else in the house, so he must have been in Emma's room.

Biting my lip and frowning in thought, I decided in the end to live up to the Gryffindor's reputation for being stupid, non-thinking, all doing idiots. Why look before you leap if the jump could be long gone by then?

But the dull metal didn't react to my touch. It gave a familiar soft squeak, and swung open.

And there, in the middle of the empty, blank room, lay my little sister, admittedly with the wrong coloured hair, thinner and... weaker than I remembered, but it was her.

Tears streaming down my face, I stepped towards her. She didn't move, and I suddenly panicked. What if...?

But then she sat up suddenly.

"Ella?" She whispered, her voice dry and cracking

"Hey Em. Told you I'd come back for you, didn't I?"

I went to run towards her, but she screamed "NO!" at me. I stopped, confused

"Don't, El! You can't! Daddy got this boy to do something that means you can't come too near me! It'll kill you!"

My eyes widened in horror. This was definitely the kind of thing that man would do. I'm betting he's got some sort of CCTV system linked up so he can watch me suffer.

But this is my little sister. The person I love more than anything. I'm not about to let her see me weak, see me struggle. She's the one who's had a shit time while I frolicked around, rolling in inheritance, flirting, dressing up, playing quidditch, having friends.

"It's okay baby. I'm here now, and we'll fix it, okay? I'm gonna fix this." I told her, sinking to the floor, leaning against the wall.

My mind scrambled in circles for hours. The little light originally given to the room by the window was now gone, and the lack of heat in the house was making Emma shiver. I nearly cast a warming spell on her as well, but I was terrified that my spell might set off the other spell.

"I'm so sorry Em." I told her, repeatedly, until it became some sort of mantra.

She'd watched wide eyed (magic had always fascinated her, ever since I got my Hogwart's letter) as I cast the warming charm on myself, and as I thought 'Lumos', and my wand tip lit, casting a nice, faintly red tone on the room. It reminded me of the Gryffindor common room.

Liv. God I hoped she was okay. Plus, it was all my fault that she was now in danger.

I tried everything on what I now knew to be a dome shaped curse surrounding Em. Every spell I could think of, to even those which I'd never tried before, only read about in the sessions James and I had in the library. All nothing. At one point, a faint shimmering had shown in a half sphere around the now sleeping Emma, but in my stupidity, I now couldn't even remember which spell I'd said, and so I had no idea which one it was.

I'd tried everything I could with the beings as well. That was the only time I could sense it. It was like a sort of fuzz in the signal, if you will. Once I'd gotten through it, I could sense Emma, just as I could other people. And she was definitely Emma, even if she was a little more scared and frankly abused and mistrusting than she had been. I had been worried that she was just an illusion, created y my sick minded father, but she proved to be the real thing.

That's why she was asleep though. I'd felt so, so heart-wrenchingly sorry for her, all terrified and exhausted, so I'd done something I'd never done before, sending calming, soothing feelings from my being to hers, and astonishingly enough, her tangle of fear, hate and exhaustion tamed to a more manageable worry, dislike and sleepiness. And so my baby sister fell asleep, shivering slightly, me sending her (as best as I could) happy thoughts to try and keep away any nightmares she probably would have.

I sighed frustrated as I watched the half moon twinkle merrily. Bloody moon. With its overbearing cheeriness.

Supposedly Albus Dumbledore had twinkly eyes. But then again, Harry Potter says he could never have defeated Voldie if Dumbledore hadn't explained about the 'Power of Love' to him. About how love is the strongest magic of them all. Of how Lily Evans died, so that her son could live, and how that protected him from the Avada Kevardra.

You know, if it was as simple as dying to get Emma somewhere safe, I'd take it, no questions asked. I'm not even exaggerating. I would do it for Liv too, probably for Kiki, even though she's been a bitch of late. Honestly, I wouldn't even think about it.

My eyes widened. Holy crap! _Didn't even think about it. _That's my dad in one little sentence. Because he doesn't think, he _assumes_.

He assumes I'll give up, just because it doesn't look easy. He assumes it's my fault that I've got magic. No, I don't even think that's it. I think he blames me for him not having magic.

And he's never loved anyone. I know that. Because love doesn't die. It doesn't fade away, not true love. It doesn't go stale, and it definitely doesn't put its wife in a crappy mental hospital and never visit her. It doesn't banish its eldest daughter, and abuse its youngest. My father doesn't understand love. And as Dumbledore said, love is a very powerful thing; not to underestimated.

And without even thinking about the consequences, I stood up swiftly, pocketed my wand, and walked through the barrier.

* * *

A/N: YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW TEMPTED I WAS TO LEAVE IT HERE AS A CLIFFY...

* * *

It was like apparating. All my body felt like it was being squeezed through a cheese press, or possibly through a tube of toothpaste. It was a horrible, suffocating feeling, and I wondered mildly if this was dying. I mean, not that I have anything against dying for Emma, I was just curious.

That's probably not the healthiest emotion to feel when you've potentially just commited suicide. Curious.

I shut my eyes, and Emma's being was there, closer, without the slight fuzz. She was dreaming, peaceful and trusting. She believed I could do this. And because she did, I could.

And then the feeling was gone. But so was Emma's being. In its place was another being, and I yanked my eyes open, startled and frankly afraid of the power it commanded.

I looked around me. What the hell? Then I had one of my (increasingly common) little realisations. Or at least... a good guess.

King's Cross unrolled before me, startlingly quiet and empty. I wasn't wearing anything, to my horror, but immediately as I realised this, a simple brown skirt and green shirt appeared, and I slipped them on.

I drew a deep breath and shut my eyes, more a natural thing to cope with stress than wanting to use the 'beings'. All the same, I could once again sense the incredibly powerful person who must be in King's Cross with me. I frowned, somewhere in my mind this linking with one of the books in the restricted section that I'd read about... erm... I think it was about Harry Potter, Voldemort and Dumbledore in the Final Battle. It keeps niggling at my conscious.

God, I need to stop being so nosey. This person must be powerful enough to either shield (like McG does) most if not all of their being! But that's not a reason to be nosey. That's a reason to respect them. Pull yourself together, Locket! Face the world like only the heir to Slytherin who's a Gryffindor can! Grow some balls!

I peeled open an eye, and nearly had a heart attack.

"Good afternoon." A brown haired man told me. He was handsome in a 'I'm so dangerous' kinda way

"Oh. Yeah. Brilliant afternoon. Just spiffing." I replied, too angry to care that I was being rude

The man gave a sort of grimace that could probably pass as a smile

"Ah. Well, Miss Gaunt, I have to say, I'm glad I have finally met you."

I faltered. Gaunt? I suppose this could be one of those people I've used the 'grandparents' threat on?

But he didn't leave me time to reply. He carried on, his voice cold, empty of emotion.

"I always enjoy meeting a relative of mine. Especially when they come from the... correct side of my family. I trust you are a pureblood, yes?"

I snorted. "Oh god. Well, my parents are squibs, both of them, but I hated living with them, so I ran away when I was just fourteen, and now I have my own Manor, Trelain Manor, where I live. It's close to my grandparents, who are much, much better parents than my real parents are, and my friends. I suppose it's kinda lonely, just me and the house elves, but I enjoy the freedom it gives me."

The man gave a strange smile

"Yes. I can see we are alike." He told me

"I'm sorry?"

"Well, both of us are heirs, both of us had useless parents, and we both are very independent, resourceful and powerful. Plus, if I'm not much mistaken from your being, you too can sense them."

I think I nearly had a heart attack.

"You. You can. You can feel them too?" I asked, swallowing hard and sinking to the floor, leaning against the wall behind me. The man settled on one of the benches

"Yes. When I was attending Hogwarts, I enjoyed spending much of my time in the restricted section of the library."

I butted in "Yeah, that's true. They ban all the interesting things. Stupid laws."

The man smiled that strange smile again.

"I agree. Anyway, I once happened upon a strange book. 'Strange and Unusual Branches of Dark Thinking Magic' or something similar. I was interested in Thinking Magic, always have been, so I studied that book cover to cover, over and over. I found, on about the fourth read through, that there is a lot _implied_ in that book. It gives you a lot of puzzle pieces, and if you can solve them, you get 'beings'. There are a small number of words spelt wrong in that book. I did some research on the author, and surprisingly enough, he prized grammar possibly before he prized magic. So obviously, when I came across the spelling mistakes, I noted them down.

"It spelt the word 'væsner'. Well, I didn't understand that word, so I assumed it wasn't something important. However, when I was doing an essay for Slughorn, I came across a word: 'essens', which was Danish for 'essence'. Well, that got me wondering, what if 'væsner' was in fact not English? Maybe it would have an understandable meaning if it were in a different language.

"So I brewed a translator potion, which took me three months, then took it. And so it turned out that 'væsner' in fact means 'beings' in, surprisingly enough, Danish. So I noted that in pencil on the back cover of the book. I forgot all about it, unfortunately. But then, later on in my life, I realised a branch of Soul magic could be very helpful to me, and I began researching into Horcruxes.

"I'm guessing you haven't a clue what Horcruxes are. Well, it is where you become immortal. Only very accomplished wizards can succeed in it, and it comes with many risks. I doubt you'll be even able to ask a teacher about it anymore, without being thrown into Azkaban. But all good things are illegal, are they not?

"Anyway, there were only about three books on Horcruxes that I could find. One of them mentioned how it affects your 'being'. It described your 'being' as your core personality. The part of you that makes you, you. A soul that has been used as a Horcrux enters a plane of being that is otherwise inaccessible. A soul holds no mortal bounds; so understandably, a soul can sense another soul, and therefore a being. As Horcruxes mess with your soul, they change your being. You follow?"

He paused for a moment, letting me take it all in. I had so many questions!

"Okay, so did you write the symbols underneath as well?" I asked

He looked mildly impressed "You found that?"

I laughed slightly "Well, the librarian went pretty crazy at me when she found me reading it. She confiscated the book and tried to give me a detention, but I got out of it."

The man smiled, looking as though he was almost proud of me

Feeling bolder, I carried on asking "So you would know how I can stop time?"

His eyes widened "You can _what_?"

I smiled slightly "Yep. McG had a spaz attack when she found out. And I didn't even tell her half of it."

We fell silent for a moment, and he looked deep in thought.

"Do you ever notice a change in light? And can you affect other people while you're doing it? And is that the time when you can sense the beings?"

"Erm, yes, I can affect other people, if I'm touching them. I can, er, drag them into my time warp with me. And if there's someone else in the 'time loop', then I can open my eyes again. When I look at the person I've dragged with me, they look as though they're absorbing light, but they tell me I'm glowing. So, no, I don't notice a change with me, but I notice a change with others, and others notice a change with me."

The man stood up again, and started pacing back and forth, head bowed in thought

"What would you say is your strongest sense?"

"Well, probably my eyesight. I'm a seeker on the house team, you see."

"So you rely on your eyes for just about all you can?"

I thought about it, and I suppose that's true. I'm always _looking_ for things.

"Yes, I guess that's right." I confirmed

"Well then is it possible that you can sense the beings all the time, but because of all the focus you place on your eyesight, you simply don't notice them?"

I gaped at him. That was ridiculous!

"Just try it." He told me, before I could reply

So I did. I settled my thoughts, and tried not to look too much. It simply wasn't working. Honestly, it made no difference.

But the man didn't seem deterred

"I'm guessing that whoever you brought with you to, as you call it, the 'time loop', was able to anchor you, or rather your soul, to the plane of being where all souls exist. So in other words, the 'time loop' isn't in fact you stopping time, it is simply you using time from a different plane. Borrowed time, you might call it."

Suddenly he seemed to realise something

"No! Don't try to do it with your eyes open! You aren't very old, and not very experienced. You could end up trapped. When you do it by shutting your eyes, you have an 'on/off' switch. If you get rid of that switch, how will you be able to turn it off?"

And yes, he was right there. It was terrifying when I was with Liv, and I couldn't stop it, until Liv let go of my arm.

"So you're saying that Liv stopped me leaving that... 'Plane of being'. So why was she absorbing light? And why was I supposedly glowing?"

The man frowned, and stopped his pacing, finally.

"Ah. Well." He seemed slightly stumped

"Wait! Liv couldn't sense beings!" I said, suddenly making sense of the situation "So though she was in that plane in body, she wasn't there in soul. So she was _taking_ from that plane. But because I could sense beings, I was there in _both_ body and soul, so I was _giving_ to that plane. So Liv took light, and I gave light."

I smirked at the man.

He actually looked mildly impressed "Very astute of you. You would have made a good addition to my ranks."

My hackles went up at once

"Addition to your ranks? Are you insane? I don't like being dictated over. You can't control me. No one but me does that."

He looked like he was about to spit back at me, and his eyes flashed red. But it didn't scare me, strangely enough. It just made me angry.

But then he calmed himself, as though he'd decided there was something still to be gained from the situation. And that was the point when I realised. This wasn't the sort of relative you invite round for Sunday dinner. This was the sort of relative you had a business relationship with. The sort that didn't mind killing to reach the desired ends. This was one of my Slytherin relatives.

"Forgive me." He said silkily

"No." I replied "No, I won't forgive you. But don't worry, carry on. I don't forgive easily anyway. Never forgive, never forget, because what one person will do once, they will do again."

Well, actually, I do forgive, and I'm very forgetful, but he doesn't need to know that.

He sneered "Again, very astute of you."

The silence screamed through the big, echo-y building, teasing into the awkward corners of the conversation.

"What I want to know, is how you have got here?" the man asked

"I killed myself." I stated tonelessly

He looked gobsmacked "Why?"

"To save my sister." I replied, my voice still devoid of emotion

"You do realise you're not dead, don't you?" he probed

"What?! You mean, I'm not dead, yet I'm sat here when I should be saving Liv and helping Emma and killing my father?"

The rage was brewing now, and I pretty much did mean that I was going to kill my father.

"Out of curiosity, how were you going to kill him?"

My lips curled up in a pretty Slytherin leer "Well, I was going to torture him for information first, seeing as I'm pretty sure he's the reason the caretaker bit me, and the reason the snitch was cursed. And seeing as he's a squib, I want to know how he managed it. And then just when he's begging for mercy, I'm going to probably stab him... no, I'll make him hang himself, and then I can just claim he killed himself. And that keeps my toes clean and my ass out of Azkaban."

I blinked in shock at what I'd just said. God, was I that angry? Actually, I guess I kinda was.

"Yes. We would have gotten on very well." The man told me

I sneered at him "Why would you be any use to me anyway?"

God he was pissing me off with his stupid stuck up ways and snotty words. And he was a right sleeze bag as well. Constantly flattering to get his way. Well my own tactics don't work on me mister.

He raised an eyebrow at me, and his face remained faintly amused, but I didn't miss the flash of red that shot through his eyes

"Ooh... hit a nerve?" I taunted

He hissed. No, actually hissed. And that was the first time I realised we'd both been speaking in hisses.

I think my eyes might have popped out of my head

"Holy SHIT! Have we been speaking snake for the past however long I've been here, and I didn't notice?"

Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god.

I'm a fucking parslemouth

Oh my god oh my god oh my god

Woah. Breathe. Deep, in and out, in and out.

Right. Calm

HOLY CRAP!

"Oh, didn't you realise?" he said, taunting back at me.

"Oh yes. I realised." I said, dead pan. And much to my amusement a slight flicker of confusion crossed his face

"Oh dear. Didn't you realise I was using sarcasm there?" I said, copying his tone

Something snapped in him them, and fury contorted his face into an evil mask. I stood up, slipping unconsciously into an aggressive pose

"What? Not used to being wrong?" I asked

He hissed again

"You know, you sound like muggle balloon when you do that."

His eyes contorted to slits, but he didn't hiss again

"Good. You're learning." I told him

"Don't mock me, child, I was the most powerful wizard of all time!"

And that's when it clicked into place. I felt a horrible retching feeling in my stomach. I was related to Voldemort!

But it made sense. He was an heir of Slytherin, that much I knew. And stupidly I didn't even see that I was related to all the heirs. It was obvious now that you look at it. And he was a parslemouth, and he had 'ranks' and his eyes supposedly flashed red...

But oh Merlin I was angry

"So if you were so powerful, how did Harry Potter, a boy just out of Hogwarts, manage to defeat you? Besides, weren't you always afraid of Dumbledore? Hell, even a potions master managed to out-smart you for almost all his life! You never understood love, and you never will! You see power to be equal to greatness, but it's not!"

He took an involuntary step back, clearly astonished that I'd managed to put all the pieces together. After all, he'd not told me his name, or anything that would directly link him to being Tom Riddle. I'd just found the pieces and pieced them together.

Pieces together. That's what Hermione had said in the Room of Requirement.

Room of Requirement. You know, this place was similar to that. I wanted some clothes, and there they were.

So that's how I get out of here. Simple as wanting to.

"And you know what, Tom? I think I don't think I'd have fitted in with your ranks very well at all. Say good bye to me, Tommy. Say good bye to the heir of Slytherin, who is in fact a Gryffindor."

And pausing just enough to watch his face twist through an astonishing number of unpleasant grimaces, I wished to be back with Emma.

And then everything went black, and I felt like I was being squeezed through a tube of toothpaste.

* * *

_So... Dannie's met Tom Riddle! I found it really hard to write this chapter, seeing as Riddle is such an important and complex character in the books! I hope he stayed suitably in character... please remember he could be charming and nice when it was of benefit to him!_

_And I'm very sorry they still haven't saved Emma, or Liv for that matter! It will definitely happen in the next chapter!_

_And lots more James/Dannie in the next one too!_

_Also, I had always intended to move it up to M later on... do you think I should do that now? Because of the swearing? Or is it okay at the moment? And how in depth do you want me to go with James/Dannie? Because I know they've not really gone very far yet, but what do you think?_

_Oh and a random update on my illness... I'm definitely not going back to school this year :'(_

_Other than that... enjoy!_


	16. Malfoy's Lair

_Uber duper sorry for slipping in my uploading regularly thing... at least it's not been too long..._

_And I can't even get out of it by saying that this is as long as some of the previous ones are... because it's not. It's just about normal for me, and I've been really lazy and only read through it a couple of times. So if it's rubbish (or more rubbish than usual) then that's my excuse!_

_I'm not sure if the outcome of this is what you will want... it's a bit bitter sweet._

_Anyway, enjoy it! If you have something to say please review, but I've given up on shouting at people to review, because every story has a 'PLEASE REVIEW!' thing on it, so it's a bit pointless really._

_So really, don't bother reviewing. Really, it's far too much exercise for you little fingers to type a few words after I've typed 4,600+. That's like running the London Marathon compared to walking to class. Really, people..._

_Haha my attempt at reverse psychology was pretty shit wasn't it?_

_Hope you enjoy it!_

* * *

I drew in a deep, shuddering breath and my eyes shot open. God, I have to hate that more than I hate apparating. I was with Emma, just as I wished, but Emma wasn't where I'd left her. We were in some sort of bedroom. Actually, it looked a little like the inside of some of the older guest rooms at my grandparent's place; dark and brooding deep green walls, a giant, flamboyant, four poster bed, dresser and such, but all with a very 'I'm richer than you' feel to it.

I shuddered. I know I say my grandparents are nice Slytherins, and they are, but there are defiantly not nice ones out there.

Emma was laid on the bed, looking a little like the muggle character, Sleeping Beauty. Except from the fact that she was chained to the bed.

I hurried over to her, pausing and freezing every time the old, dark wood floor groaned. She was pale, as pale as death, but I shoved that thought firmly out of my mind.

She was breathing, albeit lightly. Why, why didn't ever bother to learn healing spells? Why is it that I probably know more beauty spells than a salon, and yet all I can do is heal a minor cut? Why am I so fake? So plastic?

I need to get my priorities right.

"Shh, baby, I'm here. It's all gonna be fine. I promise. Shh..." I cooed

Her breathing hitched for a moment, and I panicked, but then it returned to the shallow, wheezy breaths it was before.

I had to do something!

I turned back, and headed for the door, trying to avoid the noisy floorboards. The door squeaked slightly as it opened, revealing an empty corridor, with some stairs and a window at one end.

I hurried over, peering out of the window. Ironically, it seemed as though we were in a tower of some sorts, being as high up as the astronomy tower. I took the stairs two at a time, hurrying to try and find someone who could help. Although when I think about it, wherever we were, was clearly holding Emma hostage, so why would they help?

The next floor was a maze of grumbling portraits, who yelled at me as I rushed past, and strange doors which begged to be opened.

I hurried through seemingly endless hallways and passages, getting more and more frantic as Emma's life slipped through my fingers.

Why was I always messing up?

By the fourth flight of stairs I nearly slapped myself, very hard. What was I messing at? I could just shut my eyes and know where everyone was!

Groaning in frustration I slammed my eyes shut and let the world take on a slightly different meaning.

I trawled through the many rooms of the house, looking, searching for anyone I could find. I came across what seemed like a 'brawn not brain' type of person, on the floor below me, and a group of about six people on one of the lower floors, possibly the ground floor?

But frankly, I didn't really intend on going in there, up against people who clearly didn't like me too much. I knew where I was: a pureblood's house, and I wasn't about to go in there, all guns blazing, like I had planned to do were it only my father. Trust him to go and ruin everything, yet again.

I'd almost given up. Frankly, I'd pushed my, er, 'being sensor' much further today than I had ever done before. I'm guessing it was simply because I was angry, so the adrenalin was sort of helping. That's when I sensed it. Or them, to be precise.

And I'd never been more shocked in my life. Scorpius Malfoy and my best friend.

And no, not in that way, you bunch of perverted freaks. No, as in Malfoy and Liv were in some random, secluded part of the attic, alone.

Okay, so actually, that sounds pretty twisted, but we'll just ignore that fact.

So I scurried off towards them, hoping Liv had turned Malfoy good, not Malfoy turning Liv bad.

The twisty passages were much easier to navigate now I had my... erm... radar? Haha I could be bat woman! But in like a totally not bat woman way!

Okay, this is my overly worried and slightly terrified brain speaking; ignore it.

I scurried on, hoping and praying.

I paused outside the door to the room they were in, biting my lip anxiously. Gah! Grow a backbone, woman! Think of how you feel in heels! Screw that... I'm wearing heels (when am I not?)! Open the bloody door!

But no matter what I told myself, I couldn't get up the guts to open it. I'm not even sure what I thought was behind it, what I was so scared of. It was more that suddenly everything seemed to be catching up with me.

It's not every day you die, after all.

Or have an argument with your deceased, mentally unstable, evil through and through relative, who tells you you're like him, and to top it off, you have the whole conversation in snake language, and you only realise at the end?

Oh yeah, and you died to save you little sister, who you abandoned, who is now dying, possibly, and you're putting your best friend in tons of danger, and she's possibly in a lot of pain... all because of you.

You know that horrible little voice in your head that is like the rain in a cloudless, sunny sky? The one that always states how awful things are?

'You really are just like Tom Riddle. Hurting everyone around you. Doing things for your own, selfish means. You only wanted to save Emma so you wouldn't feel guilty all your life. You let Liv come along with you, when you knew there was a high possibility she would get hurt.'

That's what it was telling me.

'the only other person you know of who can even sense the beings, never mind send thoughts and feelings through them, or stop time using them, is Lord Voldemort. How does that make you feel? Powerful? Like a true Slytherin heir? Like a true Gaunt?

My mind was running through a vicious maze of self conjured pain, forcing me to believe I was pretty much the cause of every problem, and I was to the point of clinging to my sanity with my fingertips. All just so I could open a bloody door.

I started to feel like things... evil things were creeping up, watching, tensed to kill. The shadows cast by the heavy curtains, the slight glint in the eye of the portrait on the other side of the corridor, the faint sheen of the staircase banister. The small crack between the wooden flooring and the plaster of the walls.

In the back of my mind, a little voice was screaming at me to shut up and get a grip, but the stress was taking over. I was nothing without control, and now I had lost that, I had lost the battle.

Everything began to blur slightly, the world spinning around my head like dust trailing a comet. Things that had previously just made me jump were now morphing into malicious beasts, things of nightmares and scary stories. It was as though my world had become a Bogart.

By now my eyes were open again, and the seconds were ticking mournfully past, something I now sorely regret.

My body felt as though someone else was sat in the control room, and my hand, wand grasped almost painfully tightly in it, raised up, jerkily, and headed for the side of my head.

My mind went blissfully blank, and the few seconds of enjoyment I took from this found my wand tip pressed against my temple, as a muggle gun would be. In the back of my head that voice, that bit of me left, wailed in frustration and screamed at my stupidity. How had I lost control? Control was the most important thing, damn it!

The person sat at the controls opened my lips, parting them for a second, as though deciding if this was still a good plan.

"DANNIE!" came the shriek, but it didn't bother me. I wasn't Dannie, was I? Who was Dannie?

Someone yanked the wand out of my hand, and I looked around dazedly.

Why was I sat on the floor?

Scorpius Malfoy leant down and looked into my eyes, searching them.

I felt something press onto my being, and I jumped, letting out a little 'meep'. I'd never felt any beings when I had my eyes open!

I slammed my eyes shut, wanting to know what was happening.

Scorpius chuckled softly "It's alright; I clearly wasn't getting through your barriers anyway."

I frowned "You were trying to do legimency, weren't you?"

He grinned sheepishly, in a most un-Malfoy kind of way

"Well... I guess I was trying to find out who had possessed you." He told me

Liv gasped from behind me "Possessed her? What are you on about?"

Scorpius's eyes hardened "I understand that my father is doing what he considers to be 'honouring the Slytherin line', but it's despicable. But I don't understand why he'd have you kill yourself! He's trying to protect you, in his own, warped way, just as Mr Locket is. So if it wasn't my dad, that means there's someone else who's doing the possessing, and it's a very powerful someone, seeing as I couldn't even get anywhere near your mind. Your barriers are extremely strong, yet someone managed to not only break them, but to do it without you noticing."

I scrambled to my feet, wondering how I'd even ended up on the floor in the first place. "Mr Locket, as in my dad? What's he got anything to do with this? And why are we all at... your house?"

Liv butted in "Scorpius rescued me. Technically he's meant to be guarding the 'prisoners', meaning me and who I'm guessing is your little sister, Emma. Scorp untied me, and then started to explain what he knows about what's going on."

Scorpius pretty much picked me up and brought me inside the room, and Liv followed, locking the door with some spell I didn't know, making the door make a dull 'cluck' and shudder slightly.

That's when my stupid little brain caught up with the situation "Emma!" I hissed "She's unconscious!"

Liv and Scorpius's eyes went wide

"She's gonna die!" I wailed "And it's all my fault! God I should never care about people; they only get hurt! Liv, you have to stop being my friend. Maybe that's why Kiki doesn't talk to me anymore. She's realised how evil I am! God, I really should have been Slytherin! Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god..."

SLAP!

I looked at Scorpius in shock.

SLAP!

I looked at Liv

"That's for being an idiot. Consider it a good deed well done." She told me

I rounded on Malfoy "Well?"

"For insulting Slytherins. I'm clearly not all bad; I rescued you."

"I'm such a bitch!" I wailed again "You must hate me!"

SLAP!

"Dan, I'm your best friend. I don't hate you, never will. But sometimes you really need to get your head out of the clouds and stop being such a drama queen! I don't think you're a bitch, and even if I did, now is NOT THE TIME, OKAY?!"

I nodded dumbly, and Liv patted me on the back "There, that wasn't too bad, was it?"

Scorpius was watching us with mild amusement "Right. Now you two have had your little bitch fight, we need to find a way to get out of here. And considering that this place was pretty much built using Dark Magic, it's not going to be overly easy. The Manor has ways to conceal people, so there could literally be guards around every corner."

I smiled "Yep. But don't worry, I have a person radar!"

Liv giggled "It's true. And she can stop time."

Scorpius's eyes went all googly. You know, like a fly's eyes are – all big and shiny

"You can what?" He spluttered

"Yep. But don't tell anyone, okay? McG only knows some of it, and no one else knows anything. Not a word." I confirmed

"Okay, bat woman, what's the plan?" Liv asked

You know those adverts they have for lucozade? Where the guy drinks it or whatever, and then everything is sharper and faster and more... zingy? And the guy looks like he thinks he can fly or rule the world? Well I felt like I was that guy. I was shit scared, for me, for Liv, defiantly for Emma, hell even for Malfoy. But at the same time, walking that think line between bravery and stupidity is what us Gryffies do best.

I think I might be on the stupid side of the line right now

"There is no plan. We're just gonna go for it and hope for the best." I said, grinning. "Everyone hold on! We're about to steal time from a different universe or whatever it is that I do."

Liv grinned back at me, her eyes shining, but Malfoy just looked like he thought we were on some kind of illegal potion. I sighed and grabbed him, then rammed my eyes shut before his superior strength allowed him to escape. Stupid quidditch players.

I felt the familiar beings flood through my senses, and I waited a moment to become attuned to them, before I opened my eyes again. Liv grinned at me, clearly not at all bothered by the glow/not glow thing, or the fact that we were technically doing the impossible. Scorpius looked like he was about to faint.

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed in the end

I smiled sweetly at him "Oh you've seen nothing yet. The only rules are 'don't let go of me', okay? No matter what. And remember that no one can see you, but if you change anything, then when time starts again, it will be different. We're not invisible as such, just too fast to see."

Malfoy was pretty pale, but nodded slowly.

And so off we went, Mission: Emma.

Sound like we planned it doesn't it.

Ha.

* * *

The whole thing had gone completely without a hitch. Nothing. Nada.

Well, mostly without a hitch. I mean, feeling really faint and dizzy isn't too big a problem when you think about it. Besides, Malfoy and Liv were fine. So it's all good.

The door to Emma's room was guarded now, by a big, burly looking man, although it looked as though he was compromising his lack of brains with the large about of brawn. Scorpius snickered at him, and began prodding him.

Unfortunately, that was the point we realised that you could make a chain of people connected to me. In other words, Guard Guy was suddenly outside of time. So basically he snarled and raised a fist to hit us, at which point Malfoy yanked his hand away, leaving the man frozen mid-punch.

"Idiot!" Liv hissed "Dan told you not to touch anything!"

Malfoy sniggered "Do you realise how much fun we could have with this? All the pranks you could pull? You could pop up and touch people, so they'd see you just for a second, and then pop away again. The person'd think they were going insane!"

I wasn't really interested in that at the moment though. I mean, my dying baby sister was behind that door. I really could care less about making people go insane, unless it was my father.

I stopped, frozen, outside the door. Liv looked sympathetically at me and reached forward, pushing the door open.

I sucked in a deep breath and ran over to her, Scorpius and Liv tagging along.

I looked down at her, completely at a loss as to what to do.

"What do we do now?" I whimpered

Liv reached out to touch Emma, but Scorpius yanked her hand away.

He blushed a little, and we both looked at him curiously

"Okay, don't laugh, but I really want to be a healer... so I know quite a bit about this kind of stuff... and until we know how ill she is, it's probably best if her condition doesn't change for a while."

I grinned "Oh thank Merlin. So you know what to do with Emma?"

He began casting spell after spell over her, making different coloured lights and sounds and Merlin knows what appear over my sister. His frown began more pronounced.

"Olivia, could you please let go of Daniela? I'm not sure if the time thing is affecting the results."

Liv frowned at the use of her full name, but let go of me all the same, and froze instantly

Malfoy began casting the spells again.

"Right. Grab her arm again, please." He asked me.

Once Liv was back with us he repeated the spells over Emma.

He'd gone very pale, making his grey eyes stand out in his face.

"Ah. Well hopefully I'm getting the spells wrong..." he choked out "But if I'm not... Emma has about three minutes to live."

The dizzy feeling that I'd been ignoring started to tease at the edges of my vision, blurring the little details that usually give the world vibrancy. Sounds started to blur together, like we were underwater, and then everything blacked over, and I could vaguely make out someone shouting my name.

* * *

_Mwhahahaha..... That's the end..... JOKE!!! Even I'm not that mean!_

* * *

Snippets of conversation filtered through to me...some things I picked up on, others I didn't. I felt like I was trapped inside my own body, but no matter what I tried, I couldn't open my eyes, or even move at all for that matter.

I knew there was something that constantly let out little, soft 'blip, blip' noises, and sometimes I could hear familiar voices, but other than that... I was completely at a loss. Although I'm glad I could hear some of the things going on, else I wouldn't have even realised I wasn't still at Malfoy Manor.

But slowly things became clearer, words un-jumbled and the 'blip, blip' noises became louder and less ', ' and more 'BLIP, BLIP, BLIP, BLIP'.

I groaned

I wiggled my fingers slightly, horrified at how much effort it took to do something so little.

I drifted back to sleep again.

A little later on, my brain seemed to wake up.

"SHIT! Emma!" I said, bolting upright.

The 'blip, blip' thing started flashing, and a healer came running.

She smiled soothingly at me "It's alright, Daniela. My name is Jessie. Now just try to calm down a little. Everything's fine."

I took a slightly shuddery breath "How long have I been out for?"

"Not too long. Just a little over two days. It's the early hours of Tuesday morning now."

I nodded "What happened to Emma? And Liv and Scorpius?"

Her eyes tightened

"Your friends are perfectly fine. Scorpius broke his wrist in a fight, and has quite a few bruises and a black eye, but otherwise he's absolutely fine. Liv was a lot shaken up, but after a calming drought she was fine. They're all really keen to see you, along with a very handsome young Mr Potter, and your grandparents, as well as Harry and Ginny Potter themselves!"

I didn't miss the deliberate avoidance of Emma.

"What happened to my sister?" I asked again, annoyance colouring my tone

The healer looked away, not meeting my eyes. "Your friend Liv managed to get her here as fast as she could, and she was given treatment as fast as we could. She was taken to Intensive Care, and the healers did everything they could for her."

The tears started rolling. Was it just me or is this all in the past tense?

Jessie looked back up at me "Don't cry. She's still alive, but she's in a coma. We don't know if she'll ever wake up, but we do know that if she does, she'll most likely have brain damage. Her brain was starved of oxygen for too long, leaving her with a five percent chance of a normal, functioning brain."

I lay back down slowly, trying to not hyperventilate. I can't even put into words how I felt

"I'm so sorry." She told me, patting my leg softly, "I'm not too sure you're up to visitors yet... maybe we'll leave it a little while, yeah?"

Then she stood up and walked out of the ward, leaving me to my thoughts.

I drew one of my sharp, blue painted fingernails across the skin of my elbow, pressing in hard, over and over until the skin was red raw. The pain took away some of the guilt, and for that alone it was worth it.

I drifted into an uneasy sleep again.

The next time I woke up, literally everyone was crowded round my bed, with Liv sat on one side of me, and James sat on the other side.

I blinked. They don't normally let this many people in a ward at one time, do they?

"It's your fault. You're the reason she's dying." Liv spat at me

James nodded in agreement "I don't think I can ever see your face again without hating you."

My grandparents tutted and shook their heads "What have we told you about getting mixed up in other people's business? Look what you've done!"

Harry sighed "I've saved the world from your evil uncle... don't make me kill you as well... but I will if I have to."

I sucked in a sharp breath and jolted upright, taking in the suddenly dark and empty ward.

The sobs racked through me, and the person in the chair next to me jumped.

"Shh... baby it's okay, it's just me, come on, it's going to be okay... shh..." James whispered, holding me tight.

I struggled away from him, but he held me tight until I fell limp in his arms, sobbing and crying and wrecking his shirt.

"It's all my fault." I told him in a whisper "All my fault."

"No." He told me fiercely "No it's not. It never was and it never will be."

I just cried more.

I don't deserve him. Even in the slightest.

"James, this isn't fair on you. You deserve someone so much better than me, and we both know that..."

He didn't answer me, he just tilted my chin up and caught my mouth with his. I didn't know what to do; I just froze. He seemed to have expected that though, because he moved from my mouth to my jaw line, leaning closer to me and trailing kisses down towards my neck. I tried to ignore the shivers that ran through me from his touch, but as he sucked the spot over my pulse, it became increasingly difficult.

"James... James no..." I told him breathlessly, but it sounded pretty pathetic, even to me

He grinned wolfishly against my skin and moved back up to my mouth. This time though my stupid body reacted for me, pressing myself closer to him and allowing his tongue to glide inside my mouth. The taste and touch of him was just so... so (cheesy though it sounds) special. And even though I knew I wasn't good for him, right at that moment I simply didn't care.

The kiss got deeper and more heated, and he leant further across me, pushing me back down on the bed, his hands drawing circles on my stomach (on the subject of stomachs, I really need to go running). I squirmed a little as it tickled, making him smile slightly against my mouth, which in turn made me laugh, and then he laughed, and then somehow we ended up laughing and laughing and laughing, to the point where tears were coming out of our eyes and our faces were as red as a baboon's backside.

Merlin I'm strange.

* * *

After the little laughing session I fell asleep again, exhausted.

When I woke up again I nearly choked; Liv and Kiki were sat on either side of my bed, chattering quietly just like they always used to.

"Dannie! I'm so, so sorry!" Kiki exclaimed when she realised I was awake "I was being a stupid bitch... and I really, really miss you..." Kiki trailed off

I stared blankly at her for a moment

"Erm... can you forgive me? You know... be friends again?" she mumbled

I blinked. She was my other best friend, and sure I would trust her with my life, but could I just let her back in like that? Really?

"Kiki... I don't know..." I whispered.

She broke down. Like, completely bawling everywhere.

I dithered around for a second, and then pulled her into a slightly awkward hug. She latched onto me and cried and cried at me, similar to how I had done with James.

I snorted

"What?" Kiki asked thickly

"This is what I did to James, except he then shut me up with a rather heated snogging session, and I was just thinking it was ironic."

Kiki gave a watery smile, but Liv looked scandalised "You were going to shut Ki up with a heated snogging session?!?"

I laughed, as did Kiki "No!"

"Oh." Liv said, and then she laughed as well "You know, it's a good thing I'm blonde, hey?"

The healer, Jessie came in then, holding a clipboard and a mug of soup.

"Alright Honey, if you could just drink this soup, and you keep it down alright, then you'll probably be fine to go later on tonight. All that happened was you overused your magic, and in a way you hadn't trained for. Basically you over did it, and exhausted yourself."

Jessie smiled sympathetically at me

"Your grandparents keep visiting, but unfortunately every time they come, you seem to be asleep. I can floo them now if you'd like?"

I smiled at that. I did need my family now "Please. If they're busy tell them it doesn't matter..."

Jessie smiled, seeming to realise that 'doesn't matter' really meant 'I really need to see you'.

"So how come us three are all chummy again? Not that I'm complaining... just wondering?"

Liv smiled softly at me "I think it was you nearly dying."

Kiki's eyes filled with tears "I've been such a bitch. You two are such, such good friends and such amazing people to just take me back like this you know."

"Group hug!" I shouted, giggling

And at that moment it didn't matter that my little sister was now either dead or mentally damaged, or that I'd caused Scorpius to get beaten up, or that my grandparents hadn't made time to come and see me, or that I didn't deserve James and I was bad for him, or even that I'd just chucked tomato soup all over myself in my group-hug-excitement... because right there and then, I was with Liv and Kiki, best friends forever and ever and more, just as it should be.

* * *

_Sorry about that overload of cheese at the end... but who doesn't love cheese? Cheese goes with anything. Seriously, you can eat it in a sandwich, with pasta, with chips, with chicken, with baked beans, with salad, with cornflakes, with ice-cream, with shaving-cream, with tooth paste, with Flash (kitchen cleaner! – said in a very sales-person-y voice). Probably even with Roast Cat (this is not just roast cat... this is M&S roast cat!)_

_Haha I'm in such a weird mood today!_

_Remember people, every time you review, you give an M&S cat a chance to be eaten with cheese!_

_(That's just in case the reverse brain thingy didn't work...)_


	17. Silver

_Sorry for the late update – I had to go and stay at my grandparent's house to give my parents a break from looking after me. With my illness I need a lot of... care, I suppose, and because my Dad works around the globe (honestly, he was in Germany yesterday on a __day trip__. He spent a week in India two weeks ago, and he's going to China in three weeks time)a lot, my Mum was struggling. _

_Anyway, that aside, my grandparents, while being lovely and kind, and still playing three rounds of golf a week, having sky tv, and a flat screen in most rooms (life's hard for some, isn't it?!), they don't have internet!!! Ahhh!!! Anyway, I've written an extra long chapter for you to make up for it._

_This is one of those 'OMG!' chapters hopefully... _

* * *

"Okay, Dan, we're just gonna sit in the waiting room for a bit, so you can have a rest, alright? James is in there as well, if you need him." Kiki told me

I felt my eyelids drooping "Thanks, you two. If... if you get a chance to see Emma, tell her I love her, please, and that I'm sorry."

"If we do, Dan, we will, but I don't think they're letting anyone but family in at the moment." Liv replied softly "So get some sleep, and then we'll come and go with you, alright? Get well soon, we love you."

I fell asleep again with a bitter-sweet smile on my face.

About two hours later I was woken up by the soft, soothing tones of Gran shouting at the poor healer, Jessie. From what I could hear, somewhere along the line, someone had slipped up, and my grandparents didn't even know I was in hospital.

Then it seemed as though she had rounded on McG (poor woman), for letting me escape the school in the first place. Of course, McG has to be one of those people who won't take any nonsense, and I would bet my entire inheritance (okay, maybe half of it) that her hand was twitching towards the detention slips I know she'll have stashed somewhere about her person.

Ha now that would be funny. Gran sat in detention. I just can't see it somehow. Her parents would have paid for her release, methinks.

My granddad was, as usual, not paying attention to his wife, or anything really, for that matter. He was stood at the window to my room thingy, his face pressed against the glass, pulling a funny face. I giggled at him

"Granddad! Come in, quick, before Gran starts shouting again!" I whisper-shouted at him.

He gave a goofy grin and let himself in, ambling over and sitting in the chair by my bed.

"How's my Pumpkin then? Off fighting dark and evil Slytherins?" He joked.

I growled "More like off fighting my stupid squib of a father. Bloody bastard."

Granddad's always been more of the view that whatever I say is completely one hundred percent true, and I saw a flash of almost vicious pride filter across his face.

"Yes. I'm very, very proud of you, you know, saving Emma like that. Don't let your Gran hear that I said that, by the way, but you really acted like a true Gryffindor today."

I smiled at him, that warm, fuzzy feeling swelling in my chest "Thanks Granddad."

He patted my leg, and then changed the subject. He might be all loving towards me and everything, but he was raised as a pure blood Slytherin prince and I suppose showing soppy emotions is completely against his scout promise of honour. Or something similar.

"I just wish I'd not taken Liv with me, and not gotten Scorpius hurt, and that I'd saved Emma sooner, and that I'd killed my father in the process." I told him in a low, probably rather dangerous-sounding voice.

Granddad smiled grimly "I don't blame you for taking your friends, Dan, not in the slightest. Remember that none of your friends were forced to do anything; it was their own free choice. Also remember that you would do exactly the same for them if the time arose. So don't beat yourself up about it."

I stayed silent. I knew from his tone that he wouldn't ever put his life on the line for one of his friends, but that was just his way. Besides, I had a feeling that he would happily die for either me or Gran. And that was a very reassuring feeling. I wasn't used to being protected.

"Thanks. Have you been to see Emma?" I asked, changing the subject.

His eyes tightened slightly "Yes. She looks just like normal, I suppose. No obvious damage as such. She's extremely pale, and looks sunken and thin, but she's still Emma. Obviously, when she wakes up we don't know how much damage will have been caused on the inside."

I looked down at my soup stained sheets. 'When she wakes up'. What if she never did?

Gran marched in, saving me from my rather depressing thoughts. She scooped me up into a strong hug, crushing me

"Oh thank goodness you're alright." She said. Then she ousted Granddad and took the chair for herself. Granddad stood behind her, occasionally pulling silly faces again.

"Now then, young lady, I don't know what you were thinking, but you're clearly not mature enough to be in school. So I'm taking you out of school and I will arrange for a home tutor to come in and deal with you. I will not have such disgraceful behaviour dirtying our name!"

I blinked, and then laughed. Probably a stupid move, I guess, but it really was ridiculous. Take me out of school? What was she, insane?

"Do not disrespect me young lady. Never in my life have I been so furious with you! You have disappointed me greatly today. Leaving school without permissions, putting your best friend in danger, as well as a young man, a Malfoy no less, and your little sister's life! How could you??!" she hissed.

Suddenly I remembered the conversation I'd had with our friend Riddle. I'm a little worried that Gran's speech reminds me of snake-language, but there you go

"I'm a parslemouth." I whispered.

Gran recoiled in horror away from me. Even Granddad stopped pulling faces, staring at me dumbly

"No." Gran said, as though that made the problem go away. "No. You can't be!"

I nodded dumbly.

I really needed to talk to someone about my life and death experience. I could go on one of those muggle television shows and talk about life after death.

"So, what exactly is there waiting for us on the other side, Miss Locket?" the host person would ask

"Well, there's an empty train station and my lunatic uncle. Other than that, it's nice, I suppose. Great holidaying potential."

Yeah. Just not about to work, is it.

"But... but you're a Gryffindor! You're a good person!" she wailed

I felt the rejection wash over me harshly, bringing painful tears to my eyes.

Granddad seemed in a state of shock, as though he didn't know what to do.

"Obviously we knew about the Gaunt line making you heir to Slytherin... but we didn't expect something as..."

Gran cut in "Evil? Twisted? Wrong?"

Granddad looked at his wife with sad eyes "No, I was going to say something as unusual. You and me both know Dannie isn't in any way evil."

Gran let out a pained shriek, got up and ran (not very fast, mind, she is getting old) out of the room.

Granddad came and sat on the chair. I turned away from him, my head bowed, my hair hanging over my face and hiding it from view.

"Pumpkin, your Gran just needs time to come round to it. She still loves you, you know. She's just overwhelmed."

And then he just stood up and left.

I felt strangely numb to the pain of it, almost as though my brain was just blocking out all the pain. I gazed unseeingly out of the dingy window, out onto the grey landscape. It was one of those empty days. Where the weather isn't rainy, isn't windy, isn't sunny, isn't warm or cold, isn't anything. Just empty.

About half an hour later Kiki, Liv and James walked in, all clutching a big mug of coffee. James wordlessly handed me a mocha, which I took thankfully and began sipping slowly.

I could hear them talking to me, but in a strange way I felt as though it wasn't real. Like they were talking in a foreign language, and if I didn't acknowledge them, the pain would go away.

Wow, I really am an extremely logical person, aren't I?

I startle even myself at times.

Like speaking snake. That was pretty startling to say the least.

The three of them were looking at me expectantly, as though one of them had just asked an important question.

"I'm a parslemouth." I blurted out. I didn't even feel the shock or regret at saying it, only the soothing burn of coffee running down my throat.

Kiki gasped, horrified, and sat down heavily on the end of my bed. Liv looked baffled, as though she didn't even know what one was.

James's eyes lit up with curiosity

"Really? My dad is too!"

I blinked at him unseeingly

He sat down next to me and pulled me closer to him. I still wasn't reacting to anything. I'd not frozen or gone tense or anything, I was just empty, like a doll.

"No, really. It was a bit creepy the first time I saw him talking to a grass snake that had made its home in our garden, but it's really cool when you think about it! You do realise that you and my dad are the only two known people in the world right now who can do that don't you?"

I wasn't taking anything he was saying in. All I could think about was Voldemort.

'_We're rather alike, you and I."_

I felt sick. Physically sick, emotionally sick, Merlin even mentally sick. I wanted to be a little girl again and have Mummy bundle me up onto her lap and hold me tight, and sing Scarbourgh Fair softly into my ear, her voice soft and lilting, and almost always slightly flat, not that I cared. I wanted my teddy and I wanted Daddy to pick me up and spin me round in his arms and call me Munchkin.

"I'm like... I'm like _him_, you know. I'm even related." I whispered my nausea clear in my tone. "He said so himself. We're alike. That's what he said."

"Shh... it doesn't matter who you're related to. You're Dannie Locket, best friends of Her Royal Highness Kiki and Her Not So Royal Hot-ass Liv," (earning him a slap) "Granddaughter to one of Slytherin's best Pureblood families, and very much loved by them. Elder sister to a very lucky little girl called Emma, and horary big sister to an equally lucky little first year, Lucy. Seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and the life and soul of every after game party. You are the girl who despite all her social commitments and all the awful things that have happened to you this term, still manages to be in the top set for almost everything. You are the girl who would happily give her life for that of another, you are the girl we all love, and no matter who you're related to, that will always be true." James told me

I blinked.

Is he on drugs? Or a funny potion?

He smiled softly at me and kissed me on the cheek.

My eyes watered.

Mind you, Liv was openly bawling. Even Kiki, the Ice Princess, looked like she was melting.

Then Liv managed to kill the mood "So who are you related to then?"

Kiki rolled her eyes "God Liv, is there even anything between your ears, or is it just a good place to store spare lipstick? She's related to Voldemort, silly."

James didn't seem to react to this, although I have a feeling inside he was reeling slightly. I mean, he is the guy who caused so much disaster, and killed so many people, and affected his family so directly.

Kiki knows all about having crazy family members. Being part of a royal family means you have hundreds of precisely recorded family members, and a lot of well hushed up dirt on them too.

Liv, however, was a different story.

"What?" she asked blithely "I think I heard Kiki wrong."

I leant into James for comfort, and he stiffened slightly, but then took my hand in his "No, Liv. I'm related to Tom Riddle, the Dark Lord or whatever he was called. And when I died, I ended up in King's Cross Station, having a chat with him."

Liv's face drained, and she sank to the floor, her eyes wide and glazed over slightly

A big sob racked through me, and I turned away from Liv, not wanting to see the pain on her face. James rubbed my back soothingly, but I still got the feeling that he was horrified as well. And everyone knows Kiki's an amazing actor – she has to be, with all the state stuff she has to attend – so she wouldn't find it hard to hide her disgust either.

I just cried and cried and cried. God, everyone hates me. I wish I'd died when I'd been in King's Cross, and Emma was fine, and no one even knew about the Riddle thing. So bloody stupid.

"I can't do this anymore." I whispered hoarsely.

Liv seemed to be trying to gather herself, or at least hide her horror.

Kiki patted me sympathetically on the knee "I know how you feel. Apparently I'm related to King Zuri the Evil, somewhere along the line. Distant, mind, but related all the same."

I didn't even react. Liv hates me because I'm related to an evil lunatic. I hate myself.

"You died?" Liv asked in a small voice, rocking herself back and forth on the floor

James's arms tensed around me, and Kiki paused in her rambling of evil relatives. It seemed as though that had finally filtered through my friend's thick skulls.

"You. You... Y-you d-died?" James asked in a gruff voice "Who killed you?" He spat

I paused. Who had killed me? My eyes narrowed:

"My father."

* * *

After that, it all came pouring out. Like the verbal diahorrea I used to get in happier times, when I'd ramble on to DADA professors about tampons and mutant tomatoes.

By the time I'd finished, I think even James was in shock.

I went from the time Koff bit me, explaining to Liv and Kiki how James had come and saved me, Knight in Shining Armour style, and then whisked me off to the Room of Requirement, where I met Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione. Obviously, James knew all of this, but I felt as though I should go from the beginning for Liv and Kiki's sakes.

I explained how I'd discovered that when I shut my eyes, I could sense people's 'beings'. How I'd spent a while experimenting with it and getting used to it, and then how I'd found out I could 'stop time'. How I'd told McG some of it, and how she'd freaked out (well, as freaked as she ever gets), and then how I'd found the book in the library, with the pencil in the back of it. How the librarian had gone mental when she'd seen me with that book, and taken it off me.

How Harry and the Auror team had found out that Koff was just human, but had been under the command of someone else. However, this still didn't explain the bite. Then I explained, for Kiki's benefit, how we'd finally tracked Emma down, and how me and Liv had wandered around the house, until the port keys swept Liv off to what she confirmed was Malfoy Manor, and took me off to our old house, or at least a copy of it, where I found Emma, trapped by some sort of spell-dome, which would kill me if I stepped through it.

So I had to sit there and watch as she got hypothermia. I explained how I'd come to think of Dumbledore, and how that had lead onto Love Magic, and how I'd pretty much taken a split second decision and walked through the spell.

I took a big gulp of coffee, pausing for a while.

"It didn't hurt as such, more a rather unpleasant feeling. Then the next thing I know, I'm in an empty King's Cross station. Then there's this voice, talking to me. I turned around, and there stood a man, who looked a lot like how I'd imagined Granddad would have looked as a younger man.

"He was telling me how much of a pleasure it was to meet someone of the 'right' side of his family. He was going on and on about how I was wonderful and how similar we were. Then he explained about the beings. Turns out, for whatever reason, I can...erm... get onto the spirit plane of being? I think that's right anyway. That's how I can 'stop time'. I'm not stopping it; I'm borrowing it from the 'spirit plane'. But because my spirit is added to that plane, I glow, because I'm there in both body and spirit. Or something like that. That's why Liv absorbed light – she was there in body only, so was taking from the plane.

"And frankly if anyone gets it, then please enlighten me. Then I realised who it was I was talking to, and I got really mad and started arguing with him. Then just before I left, I realised we'd had the whole conversation in snake language!"

No one spoke for a minute. We were all just frozen, everyone looking at me, and me staring resolutely at James's hand as it held mine, stroking the back of my hand with his thumb.

Then Kiki, who was obviously used to the lineage famous bloodlines brought you, grinned a truly Slytherin smirk, and said "This means you can get into their common rooms and dorms, you know. All their stuff has snakes on it, and apparently, although no one knows for sure, if they're asked to open by a parslemouth, they'll open without the password!"

"Wait... who's stuff?" Liv asked

James grinned: "The Ravenclaw's. Obviously. Everyone knows Ravenclaws love snakes."

Liv completely bought it for abut ten seconds, which made us laugh almost as much as her then chasing James around the ward, screaming about the 'Idiot Groups' Head Buffoon' and 'Bloody prat' and 'Dannie is on drugs' and so on.

It was nice to see James and Liv getting along well, although if James constantly made jabs about Liv not understanding things as fast as say, Rose Weasley does, then they'll fall out big time.

When we'd all calmed down again, there was a slight pause, which was just touching on awkward, but thankfully the random chatter returned, and with it the sarcastic comments and witty snarks I so loved my friends for. I was feeling well again in myself, and no longer exhausted, just irritated I wasn't already being let out.

"James!" A startled Ginny shouted from the door "What are you doing out of school, young man? I gave you permission to be here on Tuesday, not Wednesday as well! How on earth do you plan on catching up, hmm?"

"Erm... Hi Mum! Ah... catch up... yes, I can see that could be a problem... well... I'm sure there'll be a solution... right?" He stalled.

Livy snorted, surprisingly unaffected by the appearance of the Boy Who Lived and one of the most famous chasers for a long time.

Ginny seemed to have a true redhead temper, and she rounded on Liv, who did pale slightly

"Yes? What was the snort for? Did you have something to say?"

Harry scowled at his wife "Ginny, sweetie, calm down a little. I'm sure..."

"Liv."

"I'm sure Liv meant no harm. Perhaps she was just sneezing?"

James grinned "No, Liv's just a troll in disguise. Snorting is one of their few conversational abilities."

Ginny's eyes narrowed and trained back to her son. She opened her mouth, but Harry laid his hand on her shoulder and so she rounded on him instead

"Don't do that, Harry. I'm perfectly entitled to tell off my eldest son, even if you do let him get away with anything!"

Harry just smiled a faintly amused smile at her and ignored the jibe.

"I'm pretty much off the hook now, I recon. That's one of the reasons I love my dad; he can get me off the hook without mum even realising that's what he's doing." James whispered conspiritally to us.

Liv groaned "You are so lucky, Potter, and you don't even realise it."

I feinted hurt "Are you saying Jamesie-Poos here is a little bit spoilt?"

Liv cracked a wolfish grin "Compared to you? No, he's got perfect manners and never expects the world from anyone. He's positively adorable."

I growled, glaring at Liv "So now you're saying _I'm_ spoilt?"

James put a gentle, calming hand on my leg, but I didn't want to be calm. Liv had just called me spoilt, damn it!

"James! Don't do that! I'm allowed to be mad! Liv just called me spoilt!" I said shrilly at him

He just smiled at me, as though I was a dog that had just done a mildly amusing trick.

Kiki set off doing this maniacal, evil scientist laugh. Everyone in the room stopped whatever they were doing (me and James arguing over the leg/hand issue, Harry and Ginny arguing over the hand/shoulder issue, Liv trying to think of a way to backtrack) and watched her as she threw her head back, making her dark curls bounce, her teeth startlingly white against her skin.

"What?" I whined "I'm having an argument with James about him always stopping my temper here! This is not funny, Kiki!"

Then Liv joined in the laughter as well, leaving me more than a little baffled.

"What?!?!!" Ginny and I shrieked at the same time

Understanding dawned on Harry's face, and he turned to James "Son, you do realise you're dating a redhead, don't you? You do realise the implications of the temper, don't you?" he asked, sounding terrified

James rolled his eyes "Yes, dad. I've had her calling me a prat since about ten minutes into the train ride in first year, when I accidentally mentioned that her hair was a different red to the Weasley red."

Kiki and Liv grinned at each other.

I knew what they were about to do. They used to do it almost every time Potter was mentioned in our dorm, much to the annoyance of me.

"Dannie Evans and James Potter!" the chanted

Harry set off laughing at his now slightly flushed son, and even the still mad Ginny cracked a wide smile.

I, however, was less than amused. Har dee har har. I gave in to the Potter Charm. Laugh it up people, laugh it up.

James was the first to realise I was not taking the joke, and he shut up abruptly, looking like it was someone's funeral; staring wide eyed at me, or more accurately, my wand, which was sat on the bedside table behind me.

"Ha. Erm... just a joke, you know Dan. Obviously a very immature one from Liv and Kiki there. Not even slightly funny. Ha ha."

Okay, so I'm going to forgive James of that, only because of that particularly good snogging session we had earlier.

Liv, Kiki, Harry and now ever Ginny, however...

I went to reach for my wand, but James swooped around me like Severus Snape avoiding L'Oreal.

I glared at him

"What?" He asked, feinting innocence "I'm not about to let you hex your own friends and my family you know."

I must have had a horrible expression on my face, because just when everyone stopped laughing about the stupid Lily Evans/James Potter thing, they started all over again from just watching me and James!

Harry grinned at James "Never, ever, ever come to me for advice with a redhead, okay? Because I won't give it. I shall just laugh myself silly at you."

James grinned back at his dad, completely ignoring both his mother and I's outraged cries, and saying "Oh don't worry dad, I seem to remember you having a book stored under your bed called something like '12 Failsafe Ways to Charm Witches'? Or is that my memory playing up again?"

I can now say I've seen the savoir-of-the-wizarding-world blush.

Not long after that I was discharged, and told to not 'over-do it'. So now I was free to go and visit Emma.

Thankfully, Ginny Potter had completely forgotten about her son missing school, and so all of us stood, paced and sat in the waiting room, as heelers trundled past us holding books and clipboards and potions and looking flustered.

Eventually one of them stopped and asked us what we were doing, and if we were waiting for anyone

"I... er... w-well, we want to see an E-Emma Locket? She's in this ward?" I stuttered

The healer smiled sweetly at me and pointed us towards a door with the number '445' on it.

I peered through the glass, but it seemed to have a one-way charm on it, as all I could see was fuzz.

Ginny laid a motherly hand on my shoulder when I paused.

I opened the door a fraction, and peered around it. One healer looked up from a load of charts, and smiled absently at me, before turning back to whatever he was working on.

"Oh. Excuse me? I'm Dannie Locket, and I understand that my sister, Emma Locket is here?"

The healer looked up again and seemed to pull himself back to reality. "Oh. Right, well, do come in."

I blinked a little; was all the healers this lax with letting visitors in?

"Only relatives, mind. The girl's grandparents have already been to see her you know."

I paused. Could I even go in there without at least Liv?

"Oh. But what if I told you we are relatives, but not by blood?"

The healer looked up again, slightly amused, but mostly annoyed "How about if I told you this girl is seriously ill? And that it could prove to be fatal?"

I felt the colour drain from my face, but soldiered on anyway

"But her being ill just means she needs as many people as she can wish her to get better, doesn't it?"

The healer's smile turned apologetic "No. It means she needs fewer disturbances and less risk of infection."

"Oh." I whispered, and then walked alone into the room while I still had the courage to do so.

* * *

"How was it?" Liv asked gently, as Kiki handed me a big slab of Emergency-Diet-Exempted-Chocolate

I nibbled on the chocolate.

Liv and Kiki shared a look "That bad?"

I nodded

"Oh." Liv whispered, patting my arm softly.

I sat down on the settee next to James, and he slipped an arm around my waist, pulling me closer. Liv and Kiki sat on either arm rest, looking pale and worried.

Harry had been called away on an emergency, so it was only Ginny, and she was talking to the healers for me, because frankly their medical jargon was just making me feel worse.

We sat in a cocoon of silence.

After a while, my brain started to turn again, and I realized I'd not been to see Scorpius, who it seemed had gotten into a fight to get us out of there.

"Has anyone been to see Malfoy? He did end up battered and bruised to get us out of there." I asked

Liv sighed "I did, along with Kiki, but Mr and Mrs Malfoy were there and they seemed less than pleased to see a 'dirty Gryffindor mudblood and its friend'.

"What?" I hissed "They said that to you?"

Actually, they even got their insults wrong. Liv's a half blood, morons.

Liv nodded, and a sly smile flitted across her and Kiki's faces

"Yep, and then Kiki stepped forward and introduced herself as Her Royal Highness Kikiera Grania Maia Angelou, and asked them if they were related to the Malfoy that polishes the door knobs on the fifth floor of her palace."

I grinned "That was startlingly Slytherin of you Ki."

She shrugged "Yeah... but it left them gaping like half dead Kio-Carp, so I'm not complaining. Anyway, Scorpius went back to school on Sunday evening; he only stayed a day."

James frowned "What did Malfoy have to do with this?"

I looked at him in surprise. Surely we'd told him this part?

"Me, Emma and Liv were taken hostage at their house. Scorpius managed to break us out of there, but not before he got pretty beaten up in the process." I told him

He whipped up to his feet, knocking me out of the way in the process. "Where do they live?" he demanded, his wand already out and in his hand

I have to say, I was touched.

"James? There are far, far better ways of getting even with them. The first on the list has to be why are they working with my dad, who's a squib?! That doesn't really strike me as very Malfoyish behaviour you know." Liv pointed out, trying to deflect his anger at least for a little while.

"You know, ruining their reputation will do a lot more damage than anything else will. The Malfoys live off their pride." Kiki pointed out.

Livy nodded, and then her eyes lit up like she'd just seen a Prada handbag for 50p

"We have to get Scorpius to fall in love with Rose Weasley! There is no better way to ruin their reputation than having their son madly in love with their worst enemy's daughter!"

"That's my cousin you're on about!" James snapped

Kiki glowered "Yeah, and she split up six years of best-friendship. Don't go thinking she's all sweetness and light you know."

James nodded slowly: "Alright. But nothing illegal, okay? If you can get them to actually fall in love properly, then fine."

I nodded, sensing he was making a big sacrifice to do this "Scorpius would probably be good for her you know. He did save our lives."

And so Mission: Malfoy went from being Mission: Prank Malfoy to being Mission: Make Malfoy Fall in Love.

* * *

Eventually Professor Longbottom (as head of our house) came to collect us. We took a port-key, because the hospital felt it was probably best if I didn't floo just yet. The port-key dropped us in McG's office.

"Welcome back. I trust you've learnt your lesson, and will not be leaving the school without permission again. If I find you have disobeyed me, you will be expelled. Is that clear?" She told Liv and I.

We nodded mutely, our heads bowed.

"Mr Potter, Ms Angelou? Much though it is lovely you insisted on visiting Ms Locket in hospital, you do realise you won't be given any leeway on work, don't you. It was entirely your decision, and not one I recommended."

They nodded, but Kiki (who's never really gotten the hang of the fact that when she's in England, she's not a princess) looked McG straight in the eye

"I don't doubt that you would put school work before friends, but I completely disagree with you."

McG's mouth twitched at the corners, and if I didn't know better, I would have sworn she was fighting a smile.

"Well, off you go then. Don't dawdle."

Outside McG's office, James turned to me "I've, erm, really got to go." He told me, peering through a window as the early evening landscape, just beginning to dim in light.

My eyebrows pulled together, but I gave him a quick peck on the cheek and told him to go and do whatever it was he needed to do.

Liv, Kiki and I wandered back to the Gryffindor Tower, plotting Mission: Malfoy. Somehow we had to make it work, without being obvious that we were meddling too much.

"Okay, so what are we doing about the fact that Rose split our little group up? Do we take her back as a friend, or do we somehow get Scorpius to be the one who comforts her?" Kiki asked

"Well... why don't we be friends with her again, but let's make a pact between the three of us to never let her or anyone concerning her to come between us again? Because if she's our friend, then we can waffle on about how Scorpius rescued us and such..." I proposed.

"Okay. We'll write one when we get back into the dorm, yeah? But about getting her to like Scorpius? It's gonna be near on impossible. Believe me, I've spent time as her best friend, I know. He's all she ever talks about! 'Malfoy did this wrong' and 'Malfoy is a prat today because' and so on." Kiki said

I grinned "Yeah, but all I ever talked about was 'Potter is a prat' and 'Merlin the Idiot Group are stupid buffoons' and such."

Liv decided at this point to be incredibly perceptive "So does that mean you love him?"

I paused. Did it? Do I love him?

"Liv! Don't be so insensitive. You know Dan has... love issues." Kiki reprimanded

I bit my lip and frowned. I didn't know what to think anymore.

Liv was watching me carefully. "You do, don't you."

I looked at her with big, scared eyes "No!"

She smiled soothingly at me "Of course not."

"Tillywood" Kiki told the fat lady. We stepped in, and Fred jumped up off the sofa where he was resting (wonders will never cease) and ran over to us, sweeping the three of us into a hug

"You're alive! I felt so guilty when we didn't go with you and then you ended up in St Mungo's!" he shouted, coughing a little at the end

I laughed and poked him in the side, making him jump about a foot in the air and shriek like a girl

I smirked "Ticklish much?"

Then, to mine and Liv's astonishment, Kiki set off tickling Fred, who in turn tried to tickle her back, until they were running round and round the common room, shrieking and giggling like first year girls.

"Wonders will never cease." Liv proclaimed

Suddenly Fred stopped, and the colour drained from his face "What day is today?" He croaked

"Erm... Wednesday. And it's about half five, I would say. See; it's just starting to go dark." I replied

"Oh! Well... lovely to see you ladies... I've got to go now. D-Detention, you see."

And then he was gone out of the portrait hole as fast as he could go.

* * *

"Where's Eric?!? Where's my baby!?!??" I asked, horrified, as we stood in the doorway to our dorm

"Ah. Well... he's moved in with Hagrid... temporarily, of course." Kiki told me "We can go and get him back if you want."

"Yes! How could you abandon him like that?! It's not fair on him, living with Hagrid! He might get scared of the dark or... or not fed his afternoon cookies or... or anything!" I wailed

Liv giggled "He doesn't get afternoon cookies anyway."

I glared at her. Because I'm so mature like that.

"Look, lets write that treaty thing, before Rose gets back. Because she's going to hate us if she ever finds out that we're doing this... she'll kill us." Kiki insisted.

_Kiki Angelou, Liv Cardew and Dannie Locket's Treaty:_

_Never again will we allow anyone to come between our friendship_

_We will always give each other the benefit of the doubt_

_We will never listen to rumours about each other, and we will NEVER BELIVE THEM_

_We will talk about our problems maturely, instead of fighting and avoiding each other_

_We will respect each other's space, property and man, and will not allow anyone to harm this_

_We will always guard the Emergency-Diet-Excluded-Chocolate, and will only eat it in an emergency_

_We won't keep secrets from each other, but will never tell each other's secrets to anyone else, no matter what the consequence be, and we will happily take death if that be the outcome _

_We will not allow Kiki's ridiculous imagination make us think we are about to die._

_We will always help one and other _

_We will always be the best of friends, and we will always love each other in the completely non-lesbian way. Unless, of course, anyone wants to admit to anything... _

And so it was written. Our rules of existence. The very things that we stuck to over anything, and valued with our lives.

"Wow, Ki, you didn't even directly mention a certain Rose in there! You could have been a good diplomat, you know." Liv said, impressed

Kiki grinned "Yeah, except for the slight fact that every time I see a bunch of my family in their 'Royal Garments' I laugh myself silly."

"Livy! How could you sat that? We're doing that Fairy Godmother thing, aren't we?" I asked, pouting

Her eyes lit up "Yeah! But we'll have to add a section to it you know, to prevent cases like Rose. An Attitude section methinks."

"Yeah, absolutely. No more disasters like that, thank you." I said.

Kiki charmed it to look like a sixties-style advert for lipstick to everyone apart from us three, and then put a pretty strong sticking charm on the back of it and stuck it to the wall by the big mirror.

We all stood there, grinning at it.

"Right, so how do we get Rose and Scorpius to fall in love then?" Liv asked eventually

I shrugged. It was a good question, and not one I had a single idea how to do.

Kiki settled on the chair by the mirror, her thinking face in place, biting her lip absently

Biting her lip is her annoying habit. Liv either twiddles her foot, or she bites her nails (and gets shouted at by me). I buy more heels, or put more makeup on, or twiddle y fingers. I suppose at least Liv and Kiki's habits are free.

You know, it's been ages since I last panicked about heels. I've not really even thought about them in ages. Sure I've been wearing them, but usually they're at the front of my mind. How strange

Kiki jumped up "Do you remember our first Herbology lesson?" She asked, eyes gleaming

We nodded dully.

"Well... what plant did we do?" she pressed

I shrugged. Since when do I pay attention in Herbology?!? Is she mad?

"That was the lesson when I sat with Mat, wasn't it?" Liv asked, her face darkening slightly

I frowned. "I thought you liked him, Liv? But then suddenly you were with Andy?"

She pursued her lips "I guess I've always like Mat, and I kinda still do. But I've waited long enough, and dropped enough hints with him. It was high time I moved on."

"Aw, Livy!" I said, pulling her into a hug "He wasn't good enough for you."

She smiled a little weakly at me: "But Andy is good to me, and I do really like him."

I really need to meet the guy.

"Well, seeing as neither of you two seem to be able to remember, we did Roses." Kiki said, sounding impatient

Liv jumped and looked at Kiki

"We did, didn't we! If we could somehow get Rose to smell it and then kiss Scorpius, we've cracked it!" she said

I smiled glumly "Yeah, but don't you remember? You told us what to write in those diary things, and then we couldn't be bothered keeping the damned thing alive, and we planted it somewhere in the grounds. Can't even remember where now."

Liv looked scandalized "You did what?!"

I went to repeat what I'd said, but she jumped in

"You do realise that a Rose is very sensitive to even tiny changes in soil quality, don't you? And I don't mean it will necessarily have died, or not grown properly, I mean it could have mutated and Merlin knows what!"

"Oh. So you mean we can't go and dig it back up before the lesson, re-pot it and hand it in?" Kiki asked

"NO!"

"Oh."

"But you've still got yours, haven't you Liv?" I asked

She frowned "Professor Longbottom said it was an excellent specimen, but that it had grown too much to pass the safety laws put in place by the ministry."

I grinned "Well then, let's go break in to greenhouse three. That's where it'll be, isn't it? And we can get Eric on the way back up."

"Good plan batman. To the Robin mobile!" Liv exclaimed, leaving me laughing and Kiki very confused.

* * *

"Shit! McG!" Kiki exclaimed, pointing towards the castle entrance. "Grab the bloody Rose Liv!"

Liv dithered for a little, prattling on and on about 'damaging the delicate flower', before grabbing it and running after us out of the greenhouse, down towards Hagrid's.

We kept to the shadows as much as we could, but the full moon's light gave everything a silver glow, meaning we were probably pretty obvious.

All the same, we did manage to get down to Hagrid's hut without being killed or whatever McG does to people she catches out of bounds. Oh, wait, she said she'd expel us. Ah well, I've always wanted to try Beauxbatons. Although Gran would probably hit the roof.

I knocked on Hagrid's door, but for once, he didn't answer it. I frowned, and looked back up at the castle. McG was still stood there, so we really had no choice. I pushed the door open and went inside.

It smelt of wood-smoke and the forest, just as it always did.

"Where's Fang?" Kiki asked "And where's Eric?"

"Oh no..." I moaned "I'll bet he's gone for a wander in the forest again. My poor Eric's gonna have nightmares you know."

Liv put the Rose down next to the sink

"Hey, look at this!" Liv exclaimed, picking up some old photos off the table

Four boys grinned and waved at us, their arms around each other. They were by the lake, and it looked like a warm summer's day. Presumably it was either the start or the end of the school year. They looked about our age as well.

At first I was convinced it was James, even though the picture was much too old for it to have been him.

Liv turned it over

_(Left to right) James, Peter, Remus and Sirius, summer of their sixth year_

_By the Lake._

"Oh my god! The original marauders!" Kiki exclaimed

I laughed "Don't show the Idiot Group! They'll go insane!"

"I wonder why Hagrid had it out?" Liv asked, sifting through some more

"You know, almost all of these are of the boy named Remus. That's Vicki's Teddy's Dad, isn't it?" Liv said.

Kiki nodded thoughtfully "But Teddy doesn't look like Remus very much, does he? A bit how Fred doesn't seem to quite fit with Mat and James for some reason, even though he does because they're all best friends."

"So, Ki, do you remember the train ride up here? Where you said Fred was better than all your Princesses? Well... having second thoughts on the 'Weasley is a sadistic bastard' thing?" Liv asked slyly

I grinned when she stuttered out "N-No!"

We put the pictures down, when there was a shadow moving just outside the window. We all froze, and then the severity of what we had done began to sink in. We were out of bounds after curfew, we'd broken in to the greenhouses, and stolen an illegal, and highly dangerous plant, and then we'd let ourselves in, uninvited to Hagrid's home, and were going through his pictures.

"Hide!" I hissed.

Ironically enough, we all dived under the bed, trying not to sneeze at all the dust and rubbish. And dog hairs and unicorn hairs and Merlin-knows-what-hair.

"The Rose!" I hissed. "It's still on the table!"

We all froze as the door swung open, and Mat Higgins and Albus Potter stumbled inside.

"I thought you said they would be here?" Mat asked

"Well... I guess we got the time wrong. They must have already left; they'll be in the forest by now."

"Huh." Mat grunted "Well let's go then. I've got the silver knife – we're all set."

Albus seemed to pause for a moment "Are... are you sure we're doing the right thing here?" he asked, not meeting Mat's eyes.

"Of course we are. You know why we're doing this. We can't let filthy, dirty, lying, dangerous half-breeds run around Hogwarts. We're doing everyone a favour." Mat replied, in an almost robotic tone

Albus shook his head a little though "I just don't know..."

Mat pulled his wand out, quick as a house elf crack, and had it under Albus's throat

"I don't think you want to go there, do you? Remember our little... deal, yes? Well STICK TO IT!"

Albus nodded shakily, and Mat leered at him, and then swung the door open to the hut, and we could just hear his voice drifting off towards the Forest, asking Albus "So where do they usually go?"

We clambered out from under the bed, and I could still feel my heart beating. What had we just witnessed?! My brain was working at a hundred miles an hour, and I still couldn't make top nor tail of it.

"Holy CRAP!" I exclaimed, when my brain came to a startling conclusion "Freddie is a werewolf. That's why he had a 'detention' tonight; full moon, remember? And he must go with Hagrid, who presumably keeps him away from the students, probably in the forest. That must be why the photos of Lupin were out. Before Teddy, there was only one other werewolf in Hogwarts – Teddy's dad, Remus."

Liv was sat down, looking very pale

Kiki looked horrified "Fred is a monster!"

I growled, pulling out my wand "No. No he's not. You know him. You know he is a good person. He's no more of a monster than I am, and you're more of a monster to accuse him of that."

She nodded shakily, and I rounded on Liv "Look, I know this is stressful, but pull yourself together!"

"Right. Okay. I can do that." She said, standing up again and rolling her shoulders. She was still ghostly pale though.

"What was Mat and Albus doing?" Liv asked, and then her eyes widened "Albus must know about it, but Mat doesn't. For some reason, Mat now hates them... so he's forcing Albus to help him for something..."

For the first time ever, Kiki went horrifyingly pale "Silver. Mat's got a silver dagger."

* * *

_Oh la, la! _

_I hope by doing this I've not made it too predictable... I know there are a lot of stories out there with werewolves and such in, so I don't want to make it too boring._

_Was Mat a shock, was Albus a shock? How about Fred? Predictable or not? Do you think there's more to it or just them hating werewolves?_

_I'm a little worried that Dannie's reaction to everything that's happened wasn't very natural. _

_Also, I've had a few reviews from earlier chapters saying that Dannie is too blatently rude to teachers in particular. _

_Dannie was/is spoilt. She had a difficult home life, which never does anyone any good, and then it was all 'made okay' by her grandparents giving her the money from her inheritance early. So basically Dannie solved all her problems with material things, and buried the problems deeper. This, in my experience, is one easy way to make a spoilt, bitchy girl. I wanted to keep it real, and I seriously doubt that she would have still been a nice, kind person after all of that._

_She still is spoilt, as we see in this chapter that she is using Rose and Scorpius to manipulate Draco and Astoria. In a way, she is very Slytherin, but I feel that her willingness to put herself after other people, such as dying for Emma makes her a clear Gryffindor._

_All the same, it is nice to have critical reviews, as I can't really improve if all you lot say is 'this is great'. Not that I don't appreciate a nice review... *hint**hint*_

_Thank you!_


	18. Forbidden forest

_Sorry for the wait! Please enjoy!_

* * *

There was a horrible moment of silence, in which we all looked at each other's pale faces.

"Well then, we'll just have to go and stop him then, won't we?" Liv stated "Because I really don't think that sounds very good, does it? Silver's not good for werewolves, right?"

If it hadn't been such a dire situation I would have probably laughed myself silly at her. Not good for werewolves? Silver? No! I would've never guessed!

Kiki was frowning, thinking as fast as she could. In fact, you could pretty much see the cogs turning. And unlike Liv, the wheel was turning, and the hamster was very much at home. So much at home it was probably making itself a cup of tea and thinking about redecorating the living room.

"Okay. Right. Calm. Think, Kiki, think." She chanted to herself.

My stomach was cramping up. Honestly, it was as though someone had let a load of bludgers loose in there.

"We don't have time to plan!" I yelped "He's going to be dead if we don't do something fast!"

"But what if it goes wrong? What then?" Kiki shot back

I growled in frustration.

Liv dithered for a little, twiddling with her hair

Kiki frowned, and then said the one thing I never thought I'd hear her say "You're right."

I grinned, although my eyes were tight with worry "Let's go then. The plan is to have no plan, as James says."

We stepped out into the crisp, dark air, and set off into the trees at a run.

My heels were sinking into the leaf litter on the forest floor, the low branches were tangling in my hair, the thorns were stabbing me, and we were alone, armed with only a wand, protecting a werewolf against his best friend, a murderer.

Yeah... if anyone ever finds out about this, they'd floo St Mungo's immediately and ask them to reserve a bed in the psycho ward for me.

"I can't keep going in these shoes you know." I said finally

Liv grinned at me "Told you heels weren't the answer to everything."

I ignored her. Now wasn't the time to be questioning my core values.

We traipsed on. The trees were much denser now, and it blocked out almost all of the moon's light. We were now solely relying on the light from our wands, which was pretty feeble. Mind you, if we'd actually bothered to learn the useful spells, instead of just the ones we thought would be useful... such as hair curling ones...

Liv was terrified, that much was obvious in her constant whimpering. Kiki was in 'void of emotion' mode, meaning she was probably shitting herself as well. I just felt strangely amused. I think I must be a disaster magnet.

We honestly had no idea where we were heading. We'd been in the forest twice before, and both of those times we'd not strayed any further than about a few meters; enough to get a thrill (or win a dare), but not far enough to be in any real danger. So needless to say we were completely lost. As lost as a polar bear in the Sahara.

"Are you really sure that James's chess tactic was the best one to employ here?" Kiki asked eventually

I swotted a barely visible branch out of my face "No. Not really. Ah well, next time we need to go and rescue a werewolf, we'll remember to plan."

Liv let out a scared little giggle and Kiki groaned

"At least neither of you two are wearing heels you know. These ones are ruined. It's a good thing they were last season's." I said sadly. They used to be a beautiful devil red, but now... they're more 'Forest Colour'.

I'm going to image my wonderful friends smiling sympathetically at me, considering that I can't even see their expressions in this useless wand-light.

From now on I'm going to pay attention to the more useful things in life.

We had been walking for probably about half to three quarters of an hour, although it felt much, much longer, when the forest went deadly silent.

We'd not met a single creature in all the time we'd been walking through the forest, and I suppose that's a bit of a giveaway, when you think about it. We just put it down to us being unobservant.

Anyway, all of a sudden it was as though the forest had sucked in a huge breath, and was now not even breathing at all.

We all stopped, completely surrounded by giant, dark trees.

It was the kind of silence that you feel almost rude to break, yet at the same time you just want to shout, to break the tension and the feeling of wanting to be sick.

"Oh Merlin..." Liv whimpered "Now what?"

Kiki had frozen, eyes locked on something to the north of us.

I followed her gaze, and my heart stopped.

There, in the forest, flanked by Draco Malfoy and another man I didn't know, stood my father, holding a wand or all things, leering at us.

"Shit!" I swore.

* * *

"Hello, children." He said, his accent still slightly lilting "How nice of us to join you."

Liv had frozen, Kiki was twiddling her hair like there was no tomorrow.

I held out my wand "Hello, Daddy dearest. And no, the pleasure is all ours." I spat.

Honestly, the only thing going through my mind was 'I'm about to die', so you could say I was a little past caring how angry the stupid oaf of a man got

"You really going to take us down with a wand, Daddy? I thought you were completely useless in the ways of magic? I thought you were completely incompetent? In fact, aren't you a squib?"

My father growled, the feral glint in his eyes clear.

My stomach, if it had been bad before, was awful now. I can only begin to imagine how Liv and Kiki must have been feeling.

"Oh look. You've gotten two more people killed today. Isn't that just charming?" He asked, gesturing to Liv and Kiki

It was my turn to growl "Oh really. And what makes you think you're so much better than I am?"

He smiled a sadistic leer "Well, I'd say that to start with, you walked straight into my trap. Really, it was quiet ingenious on my behalf, I do think. You have rather got a hero complex, you know. And time and time again it is your downfall."

My eyes narrowed. Something about him was just... off. He would usually have lost his temper and resorted to violence by now. And yet here he was, happily goading away.

I shot a quick look around us, convinced there would be other people closing in on us. If there were, we couldn't see them

"Take her. We don't need the other two. Kill the spares." My father's voice rang through the forest, void of all emotion, as though he was under the imperius.

The men grinned. With a quick flick of their wrists, bright lights shot through the clearing. Ironically, all those years of duelling James when we were arguing seemed to have paid off, because my wand seemed to react before I'd even had time to think, snapping a quick shield over us.

"Liv, Kiki, listen to me! Concentrate! It doesn't matter what you plan now, just bloody do something!"

Kiki seemed to snap out of her little awake-coma, and began duelling with Draco. Surprisingly, although Draco clearly had the upper hand, Kiki was holding her own quite nicely.

Liv took a second longer, but she too reacted when my father threw a stunner her way. To my horror, Daddy Dearest seemed more than capable with a wand, giving Liv a hard time as he sent curse after curse her way, and soon the colours turned from the familiar red stunners to a vast rainbow of spells, most that I didn't have a clue as to what they were.

The unknown man grinned at me "My, my, who would've guessed just how beautiful the boss's daughter would be, hey?" he asked as he sent a particularly nasty looking dark purple spell my way.

I grimaced "Who would've thought Daddy's Idiots would have been so charming?"

The man leered, dancing lightly on his feet away from a stunner I sent

I quick look over my shoulder at Liv and Kiki proved that they were starting to struggle as well. That little lost second earned me a painful gash on my side, and ripped through my robes completely.

Bloody idiots. You do not mess with my clothes!

"Ugh!" I shrieked. Merlin I'd had enough now!

The man grinned at me and stopped sending spells at me. I sent yet another red beam at him, but he deflected it lazily out of the way.

"Look at your friends, beautiful." He commanded.

I glanced over my shoulder once again, and to my horror, both Liv and Kiki had lost their duels. They both had a wand pressed tight against their throat. My father grinned sadistically at me, before turning back to my best friends.

"Now then, I hope everyone has enjoyed tonight's entertainment, but unfortunately the show has come to an end. Say goodbye."

I gaped in horror as my father raised his wand, almost in what felt like slow motion, and pointed it directly at Kiki. She stood there, her head held high, knowing that whatever was about to happen wasn't going to be nice.

But none of us expected him to utter, never mind about shout, the words to the most unforgivable curse, nor did we expect to see the green light shoot from his wand, heading directly towards Kiki's heart.

And at that moment, I was so, so angry. Murderous. I've never been one for death threats, other than about my father, but right then? I'd never been so... never felt so... feral. So animal.

I drew a sharp breath through my teeth as my eyes snapped shut. The world changed from unreadable darkness to the strange world of the Spirits, freezing everything.

I grinned a vicious grin, and stalked towards my father. Could I kill him somehow? Would that save Kiki?

No. It wouldn't. I had to get her away from the curse before I killed anyone.

I grabbed her arm and yanked her towards me, away from the now frozen green light.

The minute I touched her, she drew a shuddery breath and ducked, fast, pulling me with her.

I grinned lightly, until I felt the deathly curse shoot past the top of my head, skimming the top of my hair as it went past.

I went pale. What?! Why did it move??

Kiki was very pale. Almost as pale as me, which is saying something with her African colouring.

"You... I... Your father is a bastard, you know that? And Mat is a complete Azkaban case, and probably Albus as well you know. Bloody fucking hell. I was a hair's width off death." She said, holding onto my hand like it was her only lifeline. Well, in a way it was. If I couldn't do what Tom Riddle can, she'd be dead.

And that in its self, makes me not at all like my esteemed uncle at all.

I grinned suddenly, brightly, flashing my charmed and transfigured teeth for all (all being only Kiki, but anyway) to see.

"I'm not like him!" I exclaimed "Right, let's kill these idiots."

Kiki grinned, her eyes darkening in anger and her lips curled up around her teeth, making her look like a snarling dog.

"Let's."

* * *

Since the episode with the Avada Kevardra, we'd decided it was probably best not to use spells. We simply didn't know how they would react, and it wasn't worth the risk.

There must have been something I could do with the beings? Surely? Because I'd managed to calm Liv down when we had been on the search for Emma hadn't we?

Mustn't think about Emma right now. It'll only distract me, and I really can't be distracted at the moment.

The anger was seeping away, leaving the more sensible half of me. And that sensible-me was tutting and shaking her head and telling me that if I killed them, a) I could be sent to Azkaban for life, and b) I couldn't prove they were guilty, and that I was innocent.

Kiki seemed to be having similar thoughts "Dan... Don't you think a life time of dementors is better?"

I nodded a sharp nod

"Well... let's do this the muggle way then?" Asked Kiki

I looked at her in surprise. She's never been... anti-muggle, but they just almost seemed to be a completely different species to Kiki.

I looked back at Kiki as she had dragged me over to a branch, and picked it up. We both froze for a moment, worried that something would go wrong with the stop time thing, but the only thing that happened was a bug unfreezing, crawling down the branch and freezing again mid-jump.

Kiki looked at me for a moment, almost as though she was gauging my reaction, and then she swung the branch with all her force, causing it to splinter.

My father gave a grunt when the branch connected with his previously frozen figure, knocking him unconscious. The moment the Kiki yanked the branch away from him again, his body froze mid-fall, his eyes lolled back in his head almost comically.

Kiki grimaced "I've never really been a violence person, you know."

I gave a feral grin "Why then, allow me the pleasure." I said in a mock posh accent

She handed the branch over, looking at me cautiously. Had I been less mad, I would have stopped to promise her I wouldn't murder her as she slept just because I was having a bad day.

Dragging Kiki behind me so she would still be outside time, I stalked over to the man I had been fighting and broke the branch over his head with a sickening thud.

A horrible thought ran through my head when I realised just how much enjoyment I was getting out of this: I really was like Tom Riddle, the bastard. Too like him for my comfort anyway.

Kiki didn't say a thing, just silently handed me another branch.

Yet again that wonderfully free feeling of watching Draco Bloody Malfoy be knocked unconscious by a simple fir tree branch, plastering a big grin over my face.

Ah, the simple pleasures of life.

"Grab Liv," I said, my voice sounding oddly loud in the time-warp-created silence, "And let's go. Mat and Albus are still out there somewhere, along with Fred."

Kiki gave a big gulp, which made me snort.

"This isn't funny you know. Fred could be dead." She reprimanded

I grinned at her "I know. James is going to kill me when I get back; he made me promise him 'no more saving people' when I was in hospital from last time."

Kiki rolled her eyes and grabbed Liv, who jumped, blinked and then wobbled as though she was going to faint.

"Whoa. Am I dead as well Ki? Because I saw the light you know."

Kiki's eyebrows rose. With the whole African Seer thing, she 'knows' what happens after life (apparently)... or in other words when you die, so she doesn't really go in for the whole 'I saw the light' thing.

"No... I meant the big, green one." Liv said looking at Kiki as though she really had lost her marbles. A worried little giggle escaped out of my mouth.

"Let's go people." I said.

* * *

Now we were walking with my time thing, there wasn't the pressure that there had been, so now we were joking (albeit tensely) about my stupid, _stupid_ heels and how James always seemed to be busy whenever I was about to risk my life.

"Hold on, James is busy?" Liv asked "What did he tell you, exactly?"

I frowned a little, thinking "Oh... he was pretty vague, you know? Just something like 'what time is it? Oh, right. Well, I have to go...', and then he was gone. I didn't ask him too much because I know how annoying clingy boyfriends get..."

"Well... how's that any different to what Fred said? How do you know it's Fred? Not James...?" Liv pressed

My mouth popped open. Was my boyfriend a werewolf? If he was, was I even okay with that? Could I deal with that?

"No. Fred was the one who was looking a bit peaky. He was coughing, and _snoozing_ on the couch, wasn't he? James was fine all day. No, Fred is the snappy one, Fred is the one who was all call sadistic because he can have really horrible days where he's just mean to everyone. Yet he can have good days, you know? He is a good friend to James. No, Fred is the werewolf." Kiki said, thinking hard.

I stumbled slightly over yet another branch that got in the way of my damned heels.

"If Kiki says so, then it is so." Liv chanted

I nodded slightly, and on we walked.

Three million years later we came across a herd of centaurs, frozen for the moment. Kiki wanted to stop and look at them, close up as opposed to in a picture, but the pressure of an escaped murderer meant both me and Liv insisted that we kept going.

My two best friends were coping with it in varying degrees. Kiki was keeping up a constant stream of information (usually completely pointless), on werewolves, centaurs, time-turners, Draco Malfoy and just about anything else that popped into her little (startlingly Ravenclaw) head.

Liv, on the other hand, had gone completely the other way. Her mouth seemed to be glued shut, and she would make annoyed clucking noises each time Kiki tried to fill our heads with waffle.

I was just trying to forget what we were doing, and focus on complaining about my stupid heels.

"Holy SHIT!" I exclaimed "Since when did Hagrid keep big cats in the forest?" I asked, staring at the giant lion frozen mid leap over a fallen tree trunk.

"Hmm?" Kiki asked, looking a little affronted at having her speech interrupted

"That!" Liv said "That hulking great lion there, Ki! How can you miss it?"

"Eep!" was all she said

We all walked over to him, still in a chain (all holding hands like pre-school kiddies). I have to say, I've only seen lions in films and photos and such. But this was one hell of a handsome lion. If I was a girly lion, he would be on the top of my lion list.

"Well that's one thing I'm glad is frozen." Kiki said "A lion is not something we'd be able to get round you know. Their reactions are so much stronger than ours are, and they're almost impossible to hear if they don't want to be heard."

Liv was looking just behind the lion, frozen in a strange, morbid curiosity, staring.

"You know, I think the lion is friends with Fred." She said

* * *

I've never been more terrified in a completely safe environment before. I knew I didn't have anything to fear, and yet I was about a millimetre off shitting myself.

It was like watching a horror movie and pausing it just before the kill. Fred's muscles were taught beneath dark fur, his eyes still glinting in the small amount of moonlight filtering through the leaves, his lips pulled back in a snarl, exposing his sharp teeth and red tongue.

"Gah." Kiki said "I'll take the lion any day."

Liv gave a strangled giggle "Oh so we're divvying them up now? How about if I tell you I'm into men? Then what? You... animal lovers can keep your furry... friends."

We both looked at her.

I blinked

"Right. Okay... moving on." Liv said in the end.

"Okay, so now what?" I asked "So we've found Fred, and his lion friend, but we haven't found Mat or Albus."

Kiki grinned "Yes, but we do know we got to him before Mat did, and that he's safe."

A laugh came from behind me, making me shriek and jump out of my skin.

If it hadn't been for Kiki and Liv having exactly the same reaction as me, I would have assumed one of them was playing a very immature and very unamusing joke.

"Why how lovely to see you again." Mat said.

He was alone – Albus must have been elsewhere.

"How the hell are you here?" I spat

How the hell was he able to move? Why wasn't he frozen?

"Now now my lovely little great niece, it's not very nice to be rude to your betters, is it?" Mat's mouth said.

It didn't sound like Mat though. The voice sounded too... too...

Too snake-y.

"It's parsletongue, isn't it?" I asked my two best friends, who seemed to have frozen.

No answer came.

They really had frozen, just as the lion and Fred had. They were outside time.

"Now then, dear, didn't I tell you to be careful with the Spirit world? I did warn you, you know. Did you really think there was some strange way you had come back to life? No, child, all that happened was I did a deal with your wonderful father. I would give him magic, in return for the Heir."

"Me." I stated

Mat's face twisted into Riddle's leer

"Yes."

"But how the hell can you do anything? I'm sorry, but how the hell can you still be... in the land of the living? You're dead, for Pete's sake!"

Mat's lips curled up into as close a smile as I've ever seen from my great uncle

"Quite ingenious, really. In fact, I'm shocked you've not worked it out. I told you the answer when we were in King's Cross. I am here in the same way your friends can visit the Spirit world. Exactly the same way."

Silence fell for a moment, while my brain was painfully blank. What had he told me in King's Cross? How were Liv and Kiki able to get into the spirit world? Were they able? I thought I could just... I don't know...

"Anyway, seeing as I am here now, I might as well get rid of this... half breed. Move out of the way."

I didn't catch on, to start with. All I noticed was Mat stalking towards Fred.

Then the hamster that turns the wheel in my brains seemed to come out of hibernation or whatever it does.

What had he told me at King's Cross?

That I brought Liv and Kiki with me when I shut my eyes, allowing them to use the borrowed time, just as I did.

Where had I met Tom Riddle?

He'd just told me. In the spirit world. So that was the crossover. That was the moment when the two worlds were in contact; through me.

But he was right. I was stuck. I had my eyes open, and no one was touching me, but when my darling uncle had come through and possessed Mat, he must have anchored me. And now unless he let go, I couldn't either.

I was angry. So, so angry. I HATE being helpless, causing problems.

Mat's body was stalking towards Fred's frozen form, the silver dagger raised, so I did the only thing my brain could come up with in the situation; ran and stood between Fred and Lord Voldemort.

Tom sighed

"Really, Daniela, I'm starting to wonder if your father was right about you not being worth the effort. In fact, I might just... dispose of you right now."

"No. No you wouldn't. You've put in too much effort to turn back now, and you know it."

"Really." Riddle said dryly "And why is that?"

I got the strangest feeling he was playing with his food

"Because..."

I paused. Because what?

"You've done something... there's a reason you can suddenly come here. I'm not stupid, you know. None of this was happening until... until I was bitten! That's when the change happened! After Koff bit me!"

Riddle didn't bother to answer. He gave off an air of superiority. He knew he'd won this round.

What had the victims all had in common?

Me, Emma... even my father, in a way he didn't understand.

No. My father wasn't a victim. He was just plain stupid. You don't play with something that is bigger, stronger than you.

So me and Emma? Well I was the Slytherin Heir. The very last magical Gaunt.

"Blood." I breathed

"Would you like a medal?" He taunted

"You and me... we're both parslemouthes, we can both do this spirit thing. We're both Gaunts, by blood." I said

Images were flashing through my mind... and one thing kept coming back. That book I'd found just days after me and James started going out, as such. The book the librarian went crazy over me having. The one with the symbols in the back... written in pencil, with the single word 'beings' underneath it.

Oh god why didn't I pay attention in Runes?

Think... I could picture the runes exactly, thankfully, but as to their meaning? I had no idea.

I'd not bothered to work out what they were. I was too busy with the pathetic drama of everyday life.

Crap!

What other subject had runes come up in?

Potions – some of the older, more dangerous potions were written in runes, weren't they?

Well, seeing as I couldn't think of anything better...

But if it was a potion, then they'd have to somehow inject it... or get the person to swallow it. But that'd be much harder now-a-days.

After the Second War, the few remaining who were loyal to the Dark side made many assassination attempts on all sorts of people, and potions were slipped into drinks so common that a law was passed – all public places serving food/drink had to have a spell placed over all their crockery and such, so they couldn't be spiked.

So that meant people kept coming up with a good way to inject people with stuff, without being caught. The most commonly used one was to claim it was a snake bite...

Shit. A bite. When did this all start? When Koff bit me.

"Somehow, you got some potion injected in me, disguised as a bite, and that's caused all of this. That's a lot of effort to back out of now, isn't it? Especially seeing as you seem to need an heir. I doubt you'll find a Gryffindor, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff heir you know." I told him

Actually, that's a lie, I think. According to Kiki, she's related to Ravenclaw... but as to her being the most direct heir? I'm not sure.

Mat's face twisted once more "No, actually. I didn't do any of that. At least not directly. All I did was leave some research of mine in a... prominent... place in the Durmstrang libraries. No point leaving it at Hogwarts – the school's too... proper. No, it had to be left somewhere that someone with a bit of ambition would find it."

It was becoming clearer now... he'd planned all of this, way before he died, just in the hope that an heir would come around... and be able to truly give him immortality. Well... not his body. That was as mortal as a Flobberworm. His body would always die...

He seemed to know what I was thinking exactly.

"Quiet right. A soul is simply the energy that is in all of us, that makes us alive. A body can function, pump blood. But it is not alive without a soul. I trust you have seen a dementor victim...?"

It's muggle physics then. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, merely shifted from one form to another. Shifted from the living world, to the spirit world.

And I had created a bridge. Truthfully, death no longer meant anything.

"I hate you." I spat

* * *

He gave a sick smile "Oh no, child, you should not hate me. I've saved your sanity. Did you really want to end up in a mental hospital, just like your mother?"

"What?" I whispered

"Oh yes. Have you never noticed how all the Slytherin girls, by blood, are often a little... mental? My mother, for example, died just after I was born. Your mother, who was the first Slytherin line girl since my mother, was showing signs of insanity about a year before she had Emma, wasn't she?"

I didn't answer. He clearly knew much more about me than I was aware

"Do you ever wonder why? It's proof that blood does matter. Because you have Slytherin's blood, you have an extra ability that can only be utilized by injecting a potion into your veins before you reach adulthood - seventeen.

"But when this potion isn't given, this ability begins to fester and... go bad. It causes insanity and often, early death. Consider it a favour that I did for you, you ungrateful brat."

I sucked in a sharp breath. I didn't know whether I should be trusting him or not, but I knew I didn't have the time to think it over. He was advancing on Fred once again.

Do I take a werewolf or Lord Voldemort killing the werewolf?

I grimaced "Bring it, puppy dog." I whispered, more to myself than anything else.

And with that, I willed myself as hard as I could to be out of this horrible trap I had yet again brought myself and my friends into.

* * *

Mat blinked, confused. Then his eyes focused on the knife in his hand, and his proximity to a snarling, drooling, tensed for attack Fred, and he jumped forward, completely disregarding his own life, holding the knife out in front of him

I felt my heart drop. I'd assumed that Mat was only acting like that because he had been possessed, but it seemed not.

My two best friends were white, shaking and terrified.

The lion (which I had all but forgotten, ironically) let out an ear-splitting snarl and leapt at Mat, rolling him to the floor away from Fred.

A bright red light flooded the clearing as a stunner shot from Liv's wand, hitting Mat square in the chest and knocking him unconscious.

The lion was snarling at Fred, it's tail twitching. Every move Fred made to get round it to get to us was blocked, like a well practiced sword fight.

I got the strangest feeling that the two of them knew each other as well as brothers.

Fred turned his attention off the three of us, and onto the unconscious form of Mat, his eyes glinting madly at the thought of a kill. At that moment he stopped being Fred Weasley, my friend, and became the monster that prowls so many nightmares. It was a very natural thing to do (at least that's what I'll keep telling myself)

"Hey! Freddy!" I yelled, picking up a rock and flinging it at him. My brain was screaming at me (as usual). Actually, Liv and Kiki were screaming at me as well.

Fred's eyes whipped round and locked onto me. He gave a feral and terrifying snarl, and leapt straight over the lion, stalking towards me.

The only thing on my mind was the simple, un-useful word:

SHIT

And yes, I really was so far up shit creek (without a paddle) that I was pretty much out the other side.

Oh the joys of my life. Stuff going insane from some stupid Slytherin thing, I'll be in St Mungo's permanently before I'm thirty anyway.

I focused on the dark orbs of Fred's eyes, praying I could see some sort of humanness in them, but there wasn't even a glimmer. This was not Fred, I reminded myself. This was a dangerous Dark animal, and I would do well to remember that.

A whimper escaped my lips

Liv was crying, tears streaming freely down her face, and Kiki was holding her wand so tightly her hands were white and taut. They both turned tail and ran as fast as they could, stopping behind a tree when they realised I didn't share their sensibility. I was still stood there, almost close enough to touch both the lion, and if I reached out, Fred.

The lion snarled a little, and then grunted in effort as it launched itself onto Fred's back, from behind him, toppling him forward, causing him to land at my feet, slamming his jaws together with a sickening thud.

The force of being flung onto the forest floor (and from what I could tell, a pretty sturdy looking tree stump) knocked him out cold, his eyes rolling back in his head and his eyelids falling shut. The lion was panting, regret clear in his eyes despite the obvious, raw... animal-ness of him.

I was frozen. Something to do with having an adolescent werewolf unconscious at your feet, and the lion who was guilty of knocking said wolf out padding silently towards you, his tail flicking from side to side, just as a domesticated cat's does.

"Run!" Liv shrieked suddenly "For fucks sake Dannie!"

But I didn't. The lion... I'm not claiming to be some kind of animal genius, but it just didn't look aggressive (ha ha... yes, it did just knock out a werewolf).

It was walking slowly, the only tension being in his tail as it flicked, side to side, side to side, and almost hypnotically.

I blinked

The lion had reached me now; all my instincts were beginning to really kick in now, pumping adrenalin through my body, burning my muscles uncomfortably as they tensed to run.

Liv and Kiki had already taken the initiative; they were stood behind a tree a good distance away. I couldn't make out much in the darkness though, and I was beginning to realise just how much of an advantage the animals of the forest had, and this lion in particular. I simply didn't have a hope in hell.

It's difficult to explain how little your brain works in a situation like that. It doesn't tell you to whip out your wand an valiantly stun said lion, and then rescue your friends and ride off into the hypothetical sunset (although knowing my luck it's going to be sunrise before I see the back of this bloody forest) happily ever after (in a completely platonic way, because I never, ever cheat. And James is hot. And I actually have feelings for him, a first, which we're just avoiding at this point)

No, your brain reverts to your cave-man days, and screams at you to turn tail and run from the sabre-toothed-tiger, as fast as your pathetic, puny legs will go. And embracing my inner Slytherin, I did just that.

I will forever be known as the Gryffindor-Who-Ran-Away.

From a lion, no less. A bloody Gryffindor lion.

Someone kill me now and save the lion the need.

But he didn't bother. He stood there, mane fanned out around his face, tail still flicking. If it wasn't for that flick, he could have been a statue.

* * *

I have discovered a new spell. No joke, at least I think it's new.

I was getting fed up. Beyond fed up. My feet were blistering and burning and killing me in these bloody retched heels, I felt physically sick from being so tired, and emotionally drained more than I realised.

Liv and Kiki were silent with me.

Strangely enough, after a few hours of aimless wanderings, I began to hear the sounds of the forest I had previously been ignorant of. The quiet chirping of insects, the occasional rustle of a bowtruckle, the things you don't listen for because they blend into the background. Well now I could hear them they seemed so loud it was stupid that I could have ever missed them in the first place.

Anyway, back to the spell.

I was holding my wand, obviously, and whispered "Why won't someone just bloody _point me_! I'm more lost than a camel on a cruise!"

And my wand twitched in my hand. I looked at it for a moment and started repeating the sentence, placing my wand flat on my palm.

To my utmost astonishment, after a little tweaking it turns out that asking your wand to point me really does result in your wand pointing you. Wonders will never cease.

After that things got a lot easier. We hadn't encountered any big animals since the lion/Fred incident, thankfully. I doubt any of us could have coped with that.

A brief encounter with Peeves about a corridor away from our dorms caused a bit of panic, but thankfully he giggled at us and drifted off, muttering about some kind of explosive. It sounded as though Peeves was Plotting, and who were we to get in his way?

The Fat Lady was less than pleased, but she allowed us through.

I had barely stepped across the threshold when James scooped me up and pressed me hard against the now shut portrait hole, and smashed his lips hard against mine. I was a little startled to say the least, but kissed him back just the same.

I could feel him pouring stress and worry and pain into the kiss, along with the usual, more comforting loving and caring feelings. It was a much more urgent kiss that one I'd ever had with him before, as though he felt our days were numbered all of a sudden.

And it was at that point that everything suddenly started to become real.

James, my rock, even though I didn't realise just how much I relied on him, was breaking. He was about an inch off the edge, and this kiss was his way of telling me.

I felt my old barriers go up, separating Dannie from Ella much more fiercely than before. James had cracked those walls, I knew he had, and that weakened me. I was angry with him for that, in a way, and I started to pour my pain and anger and worry into him, exchanging his pain for mine gratefully.

I'd far rather take James's load for him, even on top of my own, than he have to bear it.

Ha-ha that sounded like something from the bible.

Someone slap me.

I pulled away, breathing heavily, looking into James's eyes. Something was familiar, more than just the fact that they were James's eyes. I'd seen them somewhere else... I was sure of it...

I gave him a quick peck on the lips again, and then rested my forehead against his

"If you want to talk James... remember I'll always listen? Sleep well... and thank you for caring."

I headed to bed with the strangest feeling that James smelt of outdoors and leaf-litter and moss and musk... not of his usual broomstick wax and musk-y-cinnamon-y-Christmas-y smell...

Just as I drifted off (with a mud pack on my face to try and relive the stress a little), I heard Liv mumble, half asleep, that we'd left the Rose in Hagrid's hut, we'd not even seen Hagrid, and we'd not found Eric either.

As I've said previously, the world hates Daniela Gwendolyn Gaunt Locket.

* * *

_I think it's pretty obvious who the lion is... sorry about that over-used cliché, but it fits with my story well._

_I always love a review, and once again sorry for the wait ``/_


	19. Granny Knickers

_Well... I think this is either the longest - or very nearly the longest – chapter that I've written so far. It's to make up for not updating as often as I was doing =]_

Next thing I'd like to say is that I'm very, very scared. I'm starting an intense treatment program tomorrow, and it could make me lots better or lots worse. So if my writings a little off... then that's why.

* * *

I woke in the morning, feeling much better for my few hours of sleep and for my wonderful face-pack.

I tidied up a little, after I was showered and dressed and such, while I waited for Liv and Kiki to wake up. None of us spoke a word to each other as we all went about our morning routine. Rose Weasley stayed in tight-lipped silence, making me wonder if we could really pull off Mission Malfoy at all.

My mind kept returning to James's kiss last night. Why was he so stressed? He was always so gentle, almost too gentle. It was as though he thought I was going to break at any moment, but last night had almost been the opposite.

When Rose and the other two girls had finally left, I smoothed down the pleats in my skirt and perched on the dresser.

"I'm so, so sorry. I really had no idea that was going to happen." I said quietly, shutting my eyes wearily

Neither of my best friends said anything, just came over and hugged me gently

"Sweetie, I know I'm not the sharpest quill in the box, but I know you could never, ever knowingly lead us into danger. Please don't insult us by thinking you have to say that out loud." Liv told me sincerely

Kiki bent down, so that she was level with me, and looked at me carefully, frowning. I thought she was about to tell me that she _was_ the sharpest quill in the box, and that meant she could see I was a danger to her life. I thought she was about to abandon me again.

"That eye-shadow really does nothing for your complexion, you know." She said instead "The grey is killing your eyes – why don't you put the dusty pink one on again? That suited you really well."

* * *

At breakfast Hagrid strolled in, Fang tottering behind him, and my baby clutched in his arms. Eric was whimpering slightly (probably scared of heights), and most of the students were 'ooh-ing' and 'ahh-ing' at him, poor thing.

"Eric!" I squeaked "Come here, Mummy's missed you!"

Rose rolled her eyes down the table from me, and shook her head as I jumped up and ran over to him. I ignored her, stupid cow. She should keep her nose out of my business. I know she's all for rules and everything, but I can run just fine in my heels, thank you!

"Don' worry 'bout him, Dan, me an' Fang took good care of him. Here yer go." He said, handing over my puppy

"Thanks Hagrid, I owe you!" I told him cheerfully

He wriggled a lot in my arms, but eventually calmed down when I fed him some bacon.

Liv smiled and cooed at him "Well, that all worked out pretty well you know. Nothing went wrong, really!"

Kiki rolled her eyes slightly "Yeah, we only got half killed. Next time we'll plan better and finish the job."

I grinned "I thought you said you'd take the lion over Fred any day?"

She groaned, and then froze "Look at Hagrid." She urged

We glanced up at the table. Hagrid was talking to Professor Longbottom, frowning as he did so. Neville went a little pale and nodded stiffly.

Liv groaned "He must have known about the Rose."

Rose Weasley looked up as she gathered her stuff "What about me?" She accused

I stalled... well; we're just plotting your downfall. Nothing too serious.

"Oh, we were on about the plant. The world doesn't revolve around you, you know." Liv said coldly. Clearly Liv's otherwise forgiving nature didn't extend to our favourite redheaded know-it-all.

Rose snorted lightly and walked off.

Liv grinned triumphantly

* * *

I finished my granola pretty fast. I kept looking up to the door every few minutes; I hadn't seen James at all. Liv and Kiki were snorting every time I did so.

Picking up my bag and folder, I said a quick bye to my friends and headed for the kitchens. I couldn't exactly keep Eric with me all day, and I wasn't too sure I trusted Hagrid with my little Eric at the moment. After all, where was he last night when Fred was there? I thought Hagrid was put in charge of any... special needs students?

Eric had defiantly grown since he'd been a table, and his eyes were slowly turning from the blue they had been, to a grey not too dissimilar to mine.

James's eyes are nicer than mine. They're a hazel-y colour. All yummy and melty and swimmable-in. Mine are cold, cold grey. Still, James says he likes them, so that counts for something, right?

I think I'm becoming unhealthily obsessed. Normally, a 'boyfriend' is a good snog in a broom cupboard and a date for any of the balls Gran organizes. I don't think I can even remember what colour most of their eyes are.

I've always known James has brown eyes. Bloody Potter.

Drippy was more than happy to take Eric off my hands for the day, and Eric seemed more than happy with his new Nanny. In fact, he didn't ever squirm (that much) when I handed him over and kissed the top of his stripy head.

Successfully resisting a choc-chip cookie, I traced my steps back to the Great Hall, where I met up again with Liv and Kiki.

We wandered down to potions, chattering lightly about eye-shadow colour

"Why are you so twitchy Dan?" Kiki asked

"She's not seen James all morning." Liv proclaimed

I frowned. I wasn't twitchy, and it didn't matter if I didn't see James every minute of every day.

Liv grinned at Kiki behind my back, and Kiki grinned back.

I sighed "Okay. Fine. But he was really upset when we got back you know."

"He was there when we got back?" Liv asked

Kiki hadn't seen him either; they'd gone to bed before he had arrived

"Yeah. He seemed really upset about something, and he smelt all funny."

Both my friends raised an eyebrow at me "You smell James?"

I think I might have blushed. Just a little.

"Sit down now, sit down!" Slughorn proclaimed, waving his over-sized arms around happily, and taking a sip of the age-slowing potion

I slipped into my seat, and waited for the Ice Queen Weasley to join me, all the while really wanting to see that adorable mop of black hair that is so infuriatingly messy all of the time.

That's what it is about James. He's so infuriatingly adorable. All the bloody time, of every bloody day. Even before I got over my I-Hate-James-Potter thing, I did... admire him for his simple ability to really make me angry – something that was almost impossible.

No, that's not true. James was just the only one who could get me angry enough for it to show through my cool exterior. He was the only one who saw the wall between Dannie and Ella, without even knowing me beforehand.

"Excuse me? Excuse me!" someone shouted down my ear

I shook my head a little. Stupid Potter. I can't even think straight and he's not even in this lesson with me.

"Oh. Sorry. Have you seen James this morning? I'm a little worried about him." I asked my potions partner

Rose blinked a little, surprised, and then pulled back her cool Ice-Queen act.

"Why would you care? You're only with him because he boosts your popularity. He's a political decision, nothing more." She spat "And you're going to break his heart."

"No." I whispered, biting my lip until I'd taken all the cherry lip-gloss off it "No he's not."

"How are my two favourite students getting along?" Slughorn asked from an uncomfortably close distance from my neck. I jumped a little; I'd not heard him waddle over

"Fine. Just fine." Rose spat

"Excellent." He said, and toddled off to Liv and Kiki, who were looking rather disgruntled.

Slughorn had finally realised that Liv and Kiki were only passing because I passed it for them, so he'd paired me with 'a like-minded student with potential' (in other words the Bitch Queen) and forced Liv and Kiki to try and work together.

I set about brewing the pepper-up potion in silence, ignoring Rose's twittering about how I was doing it wrong. I couldn't have cared less. My mind was simply focused on where my boyfriend had scuttled off to, and why he hadn't bothered to see me, especially how panicked he was last night.

Wait, why was he even up at that time of night? We'd been in that damned forest for hours!

"Concentrate!" She growled at me

"You do it then!" I snapped back "What was James doing up at about one in the morning?" I said, more to myself than to her

Rose paused suddenly "Where did you see him?" She asked urgently

"The common room. He was really stressed out."

Her eyes widened "Shit. Shit, shit, shitty shit. Was he with anyone? Mat, say?"

My eyes narrowed "No, and thank Merlin for that."

She looked a little taken aback "Was Albus there or anything?"

I sucked in a sharp breath. Albus was in the forest, unprotected from Fred! I didn't even know if he'd gotten out at all!

I dropped the wooden handled, silver spoon in shock, and it landed in the potion. It bubbled a little, stilled, and then blew.

I got a face full of the potion, and it burnt like hell. We'd just gotten to the part of the potion that makes smoke come out of your ears.

Rose had a little, tiny splash on her hand, but was otherwise alright. In fact, everyone _but_ me seemed a little shaken, but alright.

"Oh dear. Off you go, Luna will sort you out." Slughorn said, sounding highly disappointed "Now then class..."

I trudged off to the hospital wing, hoping I would see Fred there, and I could ask him about James.

* * *

"Oh dear. Yes Pepper Up, that can be nasty." Loony told me "Maybe you should be careful nest time."

I whimpered slightly as she added more and more sickly puce coloured paste to my burns

"I had a lot on my mind."

"Perhaps a wrackspurt?" she asked, un-screwing yet another tub of the burn-paste

I looked around the ward – a first year whose wand had backfired, resulting in his nose turning blue, two fourth years who appeared to have stuck themselves together by the foot, a hyperventilating fifth year, for whom OWLs were just that tad too stressful... and one bed with the curtain drawn around it.

"Right... that should fix it, but it might take a while or so. Just sit tight, I'm a little busy. Those fourth years are proving a little difficult to separate. Perhaps Minerva could help..." she said, as she drifted out of the room.

Trying not to move my face too much, I tiptoed over to the hidden bed. The person (people?) inside clearly heard me, however, because they stopped talking.

"C-come in?" Asked what I think was Fred

I peeled aside the curtains

James grabbed my hand and yanked me inside, drawing the curtains once again behind me

His eyes widened as he took in my burn-paste covered appearance

"What have you done?!" he asked, horrified

I patted him absently on the head, and moved over to Fred. I wasn't about to let him know just how much his absence had affected me. His ego's big enough as it is.

"Hey Fluffy. Enjoy your run last night?"

Fred was pale, gawping at me a little. James's face spilt into a heart-warming smile, and he wrapped his arms around me from behind

"Didn't I tell you Dannie wouldn't mind? And I was right, wasn't I?" He said, smugly

"Thank you, Dan. You have no idea just how much the acceptance means to me you know."

I paused for a little. Did I really understand what he was going through? Could anyone who wasn't a werewolf as well understand?

My inner Slytherin grinned at the opportunity to do a bit of scheming. Or matchmaking.

"Kiki does. Imagine spending all your life with the weight of a country on your shoulders? The moment her mum dies, she will be the Queen of Africa. Or at least the Voodoo part of it. Kiki is the closest female relative, meaning she's in line for the throne. You only get to run around the forest once a month."

James smiled against my neck

"Hey, you know what? All girls have a problem once a month anyway. I don't know what you're complaining about. We get moody and feel a bit under the weather and, well, Liv turns pretty vicious, to be honest. Bloodthirsty."

A little of the sparkle that Fred was so well known for returned to his eyes, although he looked a tad disgusted about the topic of conversation.

"Well... James and I are really sorry for scaring you last night. Neither of us meant to, but I guess it's not every day you see a lion and a werewolf in the forest, is it?"

Had I not had a load of sticky paste on my face, I would have slapped myself pretty hard right then. Now that Fred had told me, it was blatantly obvious that the lion was James. Stupid, stupid Dannie. That must have been how he'd gotten into my dorm in September, after I started hyperventilating about the Bogart Incident.

Then the feeling of betrayal started to creep in. He knew almost everything about me, didn't he? He knew I could talk to snakes, he knew I was related to Snake Face himself, he knew about Emma, about my Mum, and about Dad. He'd risked his best mate and himself being hurt to save me, Liv and Kiki. He hadn't lied to me about anything – I'd never asked if he was a lion in secret.

"O-okay. Right. You're a lion. I can deal with that." Even though my voice sounded a little odd.

James pulled me round to face him, looking very concerned

"Really. I mean, if you can handle the fact that I'm the great niece of Lord Voldemort then I can handle that you're a lion, and Fred's a werewolf."

Fred made a startled gagging noise behind us, and James grinned at me

"Oh yeah... forgot to mention that, didn't I Fred?" James said, glancing briefly at his best mate, and then back down at me.

Fred made another unintelligible noise, and I gave an anxious giggle. I was beginning to realize what Liv and Kiki had meant – I had been jumpy all morning.

"Are you sure you're alright, James? It's wonderful that you're here with Fred, but you should be in Herbology right now."

His eyes tightened, and his body language went from relieved and open to angry and tense. A look of almost intense pain went across his eyes.

"James? Is-is Mat alright?" I asked softly

"I hope he isn't. In fact, I hope he and Albus enjoy their little trip to Azkaban." He spat

"Oh James." I said softly. I knew what it felt like to feel so betrayed. It's what my father had done, after all.

"My own brother."

"Wait... what? Albus is innocent! We overheard him in Hagrid's hut! Mat was blackmailing him, for some reason. This isn't his fault!"

"No. Albus and Mat were in the forest, with a silver dagger, looking for a werewolf. That's attempted murder, Dan. There's nothing anyone can do, not even my dad." James said. He was biting his lip hard; presumably to keep himself in control and not break down in tears

I growled.

"Just you watch me."

James's face went through a varying range of emotions: pain, anger, worry, more pain, betrayal... and a small glimmer of hope.

"Oh for pity's sake, kiss your bloody girlfriend." Fred said from behind us

James grinned at me, and then at Fred "She's covered in burn paste, you twit."

"Are we alright in here?" Madam L's voice came from round the curtain "Jimmy, you really should head back to lessons. Fred's feeling much better now. Shame he tripped over that tree-stump last night, wasn't it? Just bruised his chin a little."

"Ah...oh, right. Sorry Auntie Lu... see you guys later." He said awkwardly, slipping out of the curtain and heading off down the corridor.

"How are your burns?" She asked me, wafting absently around my head as though there was something invisible there. For all I knew, there probably was.

"Oh, yeah. Can the paste come off now?"

* * *

I got back down to the dungeons just in time to get the homework. And the extra work that I would need to do to catch up.

"Was Fred in the infirmary?" Kiki asked in a hushed voice

I nodded "And James was there as well. I'll tell you later, alright?"

"Okay... don't worry about Sluggy – you're his favourite student." Liv said, as she and Ki headed off for DADA

"Right... I'll tell you this because you're one of my best students, so mum's the word, yes? Right... just make sure you revise a little. All the staff have been asked to give you an unannounced test, just to see how this 'setting' is working, or if we should go back to giving lessons in houses as we used to."

I grinned. I knew there was a reason I gave old Sluggy his crystallized pineapple every once in a while.

Ah yet another inner Slytherin moment there.

"Well then, I look forward to seeing you two next lesson!" Slughorn told me, grinning and sipping yet again from his hip flask

I started a little – 'two' of you?

Slughorn waddled back into his office, and Rose stepped out from the corner where she'd been hiding. We looked at each other in silence for a moment, when Rose sighed a little and dropped her eyes from mine

"I-I'm sorry." She told me. She looked so worried

"Let's go to DADA, yes? We're going to be late." I said. So what? She said sorry... big whoop. It's only a word, one that I've said more than I can count and only meant it about three times.

We walked in an awkward silence for a few corridors, but finally I got the guts up to speak

"Look, Rose, I know for you , it's really hard to understand. It would be like you suddenly going out with Scorpius, but I really do care about him. Ask Ki or Liv; I've not been myself all morning because I was worrying about him. Besides, it's not just me who's a little less than perfect, James was an arrogant jerk only a year or so ago."

She was frowning, pulling on a thread on her bag a little "Was... did you see... anyone, in the hospital wing?"

I smiled a little. Her and Fred were cousins, weren't they? "You know about Fred?" I asked

She stopped suddenly "I'm going to kill James."

"Why?! He didn't do anything!" My voice was a little too high "We found out ourselves! Kiki worked it out!"

She growled "Stupid know-it-all."

I smirked "SHE'S a know-it-all?? What about you? Everyone thinks you bribed the hat to let you into Gryffindor, you know. You should have been a Ravenclaw."

She grimaced a little, but I'm pretty sure I saw a slight smile in her eyes.

"If you say anything horrible or mean or evil to him..."

I looked at her in astonishment "Say something horrible? Why would I do that? I know all about wanting acceptance for something that isn't my fault. And if I trusted you more? I'd tell you, and then you'd realise that I am much, much worse than Fred."

She didn't have an answer, and we walked the rest of the way in silence, although this time it wasn't quite as awkward.

* * *

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for two late students!" Professor Tyle barked.

He still hates me from all those times when I was rude to him. Going on about panty-liners and wrackspurts and Merlin knows what.

I didn't rise to the bait though, despite Kiki and Liv's huffing.

"Today we're having a more practical lesson. I've had enough of _certain_ members of this class not taking it seriously enough!" He said, glaring at me in particular

"Everyone on their feet!" He barked, swishing his surprisingly pale wand. The room transformed into a big, scrawling, rugged landscape, pitted with rocks and the occasional shrub

"This is going to be a task. Off you go!" came his voice, not that I could see him anymore.

I was completely alone.

Stupid bloody teacher.

I forced myself to think straight, for once. Take the time to look, take the time to think. This couldn't be an impossible task.

It looked to be endless, on first glance, but it wasn't. After only a few meters, the landscape repeated its self, like a tile on a bathroom wall. There wasn't an obvious source of light, it was as though it was light, just because it _was_.

There wasn't any breeze, or much sound. Obviously our professor hadn't exactly put much effort into this.

Why would they do this? Why do something so different so suddenly? It was like the sets – so different, so suddenly. It was as though someone else was getting involved!

But who would get involved with Hogwarts? Pointless! It was the most powerful part of the wizarding Britain, some said, even over the Ministry. No one could hope to... do anything to it.

I was alone. That was beginning to really worry me. If I didn't know what my Bogart was, I'd hazard a guess at this being it, although I knew I was acting too rationally, and calmly, for this to be my worst fear.

Laying my wand in the palm of my hand, I whispered 'point me', and sure enough, my wand twitched in my hand, and I set off, following where it led me.

It led me to the tree. I grimaced, and tried to climb it. Every time I put my hand on the tree, I could see a red ribbon tied to the top of it, but the tree would shift just a few centimetres away from me.

I tried a shrinking spell on the tree. Thankfully, it did work, and the tree was just at about knee height now. So technically all I would have to do was grab the ribbon.

That turned out to be a little more complicated than it sounded. How do you grab something that moves the instant you touch it?

I growled. Maybe it was sensitive to just skin? If I touched it with my wand, would that do anything?

Nothing happened. Okay, so it only moves when touched by exposed skin. But it only reveals the ribbon when touched by skin... grr...

Oh I am an idiot

"Accio ribbon."

It didn't work. Why didn't it work???

Okay... we have anti-summoning charms? Can they even be broken?

I bet they can. They were only done by Prof Pathetic. Of course they can be broken... if I'd only listened in lessons before.

I bet I could do this if I could just shut my eyes... I bet I could sense the barriers... but I mustn't. If I do then my esteemed Uncle can pop round for a chat again.

Wasn't there something I'd read in the library about raw energy? When I was trying to find out what the being thing was? 'The 'auror' of a spell, object or being all gives off raw power that ties it to this world. Some wizards can sense this power naturally, but for others it requires a lot of will power to succeed. A simple charm is needed...'

And that's where my memory cuts out. What was the rest of that sentence? Gah!

I bet Little Miss Weasley will know. She knows everything.

And she never cheats. Every rule is carefully abided by.

Well stuff that. There aren't any rules here. None that I know of anyway.

"Mr Potts!" I shouted. A house elf was just what I needed right now

CRACK! "Yes? Mistress called for Mr Potts?"

I grinned at my house elf "Yes, and thank Merlin for that. I need to get the ribbon from the top of that tree. Do you think you could help me?"

He nodded, his ears flapping a little. A simple snap of his fingers brought the red ribbon into my hands. The landscape around me blurred and shifted, and I just had time to shout a thank you to Mr Potts, before the classroom reappeared, all my class mates looking dusty and panicked, and my teacher with his lip curled up in a snarl

"So Little Miss Gryffindor cheated, did she? Rather _Slytherin_ of you, wasn't it?"

"Don't bring house rivalry into this. It was your own fault for not laying rules down." I said back, surprisingly calmly. James was stood with Liv and Kiki, just a little off to the side, and he looked at me with raised eyebrows. Clearly he had expected me to fly off the handle, rude boyfriend that he is.

"I didn't think I needed to tell you that summoning your house elf was against the rules!" He snapped

The class had a surprisingly large range of reactions to this, going from outrage to slapping themselves for not thinking of that first.

"What? There weren't any rules! I can't have done anything wrong!"

"Defence is about being able to think on your feet, not cheat!" spluttered my professor

I grinned "You've just said it in one. I didn't cheat, because there weren't any rules. I thought on my feet, and realised that the best way to get the ribbon was to have help. Knowing when to accept help is just as important as having the ability to do it on your own."

"Yes... very Slytherin, wasn't it? Although I have to say, with your heritage, I'm not surprised." My professor said, before dismissing us all early with a vague wave of his hand.

* * *

By lunch time, people were saying I was going to re-open the Chamber of Secrets. And that was only a lesson after my Professor had hinted at my heritage. So someone in my class had to have worked out the link between 'Slytherin' and 'heritage', and come to the conclusion that I was an Evil-Dark-Witch-With-An-Ambition-For-World-Dominance

Of course, that was only Scorpius Malfoy and his cronies. So clearly they'd spread it pretty fast, bloody idiots. Did they not realise the amount of power I had in their world? Did they not understand, as children of Death Eaters, just the amount of leverage I had?

Scorpius was one confusing person. At one moment he was rescuing us from the tower, Prince-in-Shining-Armour style, the next moment, he was spreading horrible rumours about me and being mean to Rose (not that she didn't deserve it).

James was dealing with it by hexing anyone who came within ten feet of me, other than the few (James Approved) teachers, Liv, Kiki and Lucy, resulting in a large number of people taking a detour to see Madam L.

"James." I whined, when he sent a tripping jinx at three unsuspecting second-years

"What? They looked at you funny!"

Kiki and Liv were trailing behind us, laughing themselves silly

"POTTER!" Our esteemed headmistress bellowed "What on earth are you doing?!"

"Oh, hi Auntie Minnie!" He said cheerfully, sticking a foot out and tripping a third year comic-book style

"Potter." She repeated, warning

"McGon...OWW! Dannie!" He yelped "That was my foot you just squished with that evil heel of yours!"

Her lips, though thin, twitched a little at the corners

"James." I hissed "I'll confiscate your map."

His hand twitched to his back pocket reflexively, and I grinned

He looked at me with those yummy, melty eyes of his, all big and doleful "You wouldn't."

Resist the eyes, Dannie, resist the eyes

"Yes I would. In fact, I would shred it, and you know I would."

He whimpered "I'm so, so sorry Professor. You wanted to speak to me?"

I grinned, and I think my headmistress would have done as well, if that wouldn't have ruined her reputation.

"Right. Well then Potter, I just wanted to remind you that jinxing innocent, defenceless children is not allowed here, or anywhere. That'll be five points from Gryffindor."

"Professor!...OW! What is it with you and your heels today? Stamping on me?"

I kissed him lightly on the cheek; after all, despite enjoying stamping on him when he was being an idiot, I did l-like him... a lot.

Idiot.

Liv, Kiki and James were fine with my supposed Evil-Dark-Witch-With-Plans-For-World-Domination; they already knew. Fred seemed to have taken it as a direct favour – I accepted his lycanthropy, and he accepted my Slytherin-ness. However, the rest of the population of the school were avoiding me like I avoid calories. That got me wondering; how did my DADA teacher know who a Gaunt was? How did he even know I was a Gaunt?

Stupid question. All he had to do was read the register: Daniela Gwendolyn Gaunt Locket, and BAM! He knew I was a Gaunt. Maybe I could pretend to be muggle born and claim Gaunt is a common muggle surname?

"She can talk to snakes." I heard one Hufflepuff say to another "And everyone knows only Dark wizards can do that."

How did they know that? Was it just a rumour, yet again?

Thankfully I'd been with James at the time, on our way back from Quidditch practice. I'd pretty much _felt_ him growling. No wonder he's a lion, and big, fluffy, handsome lion at that.

"You want to know of a famous wizard who's a parslemouth? My dad. So shut your traps and trot along."

They squeaked a little and scurried off, like startled house elves.

"You alright Dan? They've been getting worse, haven't they?" he said, concerned

I smiled sadly "Unfortunately I spent most of my school life making up rumours, breaking up relationships and snogging in broom cupboards. I'm used to this kind of thing, although I don't think you'd ever realized just to what extent."

He bristled, as he always did, at the mention of me with any other guy.

"You know James, I don't think I ever meant it, all those times I told you I hated you. I think it was just a... thing that I had to do to keep my reputation. Dannie Locket hates James Potter. That's just the way the world spins."

He smiled a little at me, although I didn't miss the hurt in his eyes "I guess that's like putting a healing cream on the cut, isn't it?"

"I'm so, so sorry. I never realised I was hurting you so much all those years you know." I said sincerely as we walked. I'd long stopped watching where we were going.

He shrugged his shoulders a little "I guess I'd never realised how much I was hurting myself all those years either. It's like you say, isn't it? James Potter and Dannie Locket hate each other. That was our reputation... so when I started to have feelings for you, I just redoubled my 'hating you' thing to hide it."

I smiled. That was exactly what had happened "That's all behind us now though. All done and dusted."

"Done and dusted?"

"Muggle thing."

"Oh, hello Lily, James." Said a very old looking woman, as she swung her portrait open "Correct password."

We both jumped. Lily and James? Where the hell were we?

"Well, don't dilly dally, it must be after curfew by now!"

"Oh... uh... excuse me, Miss, but what's your name, and what was the password again?" I asked

The lady blinked a little, as though someone had suddenly turned a bright light on

"Dear me! I know I forget my glasses all the time, but to forget my name, and a password you've just given me! The password was 'muggle', and my name is Eliza Reily. Now please Lily, don't leave me hanging half open; go inside!"

And so we did. Inside was decorated in Gryffindor colours, and looked almost exactly the same as our common room, except there was a little kitchen area to one side, and a few more bookcases than in our common room. On the back wall were two doors, each with a golden placket next to it

"James Potter, Head Boy" I read. James put down the frying pan he'd picked up, and headed over to the other door

"Lily Evans, Head Girl." He stated, his voice a little odd "This is the head's dorm... the year my grandparents were heads."

The dorms themselves were just a more lavish version of our own, containing only one bed each. So all those rumours about indoor swimming pools and such was a load of hippogriff dung.

When I was done snooping around Lily's dorm, I wandered back out to the common room area, to see James sprawled over one of the arm chairs.

I clambered onto his knee, snuggling up against him. I knew he was always a little upset about so many of his family being killed in the war, and seeing his grandparent's dorms as though not a day had passed was bound to be a little difficult.

I must have fallen asleep soon after, because the next thing I knew, I was curled up next to James, in what looked like the original James Potter's bed. James was still asleep, one arm curled all the way around me, holding me tightly like a teddy bear, the other arm thrown hap-hazard up behind his head. We were both still in our uniform (thank Merlin. I wasn't too sure I was ready for _that_ step just yet), and if James's appearance was anything to by, we looked like, well, we'd slept the night in our clothes.

I smiled and pressed a soft kiss to James's forehead. He mumbled a little, and pulled me closer to him. From my new position, I could just make out the clock on the bed side table

11:30

I groaned. We were way past curfew now...

In my sleepy state, it took me another ten minutes to realise the room was too light to be 11:30 at night... which meant we'd slept through almost half of Friday as well.

"James? Jamie? Wake up!" I said softly "We're really, really late!"

He groaned a little, so I poked him

"S'meany." He told me

Actually, maybe he did have a point. Maybe I was being a 'meany'

I kissed him softly on the lips, mouth closed (morning breath is about as disgusting as it gets). He shifted again and opened his eyes drowsily

"Wha'?"

"James... it's half eleven. And how come we're in James Potter's bed?"

That just sounds strange.

"Oh. You fell asleep on top of me, and that arm chair wasn't nearly as comfortable with two people in it as it was with just me. We were too late to go back to the Tower, so I thought we could just stay here? That is alright, isn't it?"

Oh god he'd carried me. I'd probably broken his back. He'd think I was fat!

He seemed to have a good guess at what I was thinking though, because he rolled his eyes at me and got up, pulling me with him.

The little en-suit bathroom thankfully had a toilet and such, but there wasn't any soap, and there certainly wasn't any vanilla and lime scented 'Curlz' hair potion.

"Ohh!" I wailed "This really isn't my day!"

James laughed at me "Just use scourgify. It won't kill you, you know."

Thankfully once James had reminded me to use my wand, I was able to get us both looking presentable enough to venture out of the head's dorm.

We chatted lightly as we wandered to transfiguration, and the topic of James the Lion came up

"So when did you decide to become an Animagus?" I asked, curious

"Well, Fred got bitten, by accident, when he was nine. He's not the only wolf in the family, so no one really minded too much about it, up until it came to going to school. Obviously there are more than a few people who still have the old prejudices about it. Fred was really worried, to the point where Uncle George was thinking about home schooling. Then my dad mentioned Teddy's dad, Remus Lupin, who was part of this group called the Marauders."

"Yeah... everyone knows about them. Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew."

"Right... well my granddad, James, Sirius who was my dad's godfather and Peter Pettigrew found out about Remus being a werewolf, they decided to become Animagi so they could keep him company on the full moon. My dad thought if I could become an Animagus, then I could do the same for Fred. Fred was a bit worried about it at first, but with my Dad's help, I managed it about half way through fourth year. Dad was astonished."

"So that's why you call yourselves Marauders? It was more than just a stupid name?" I asked. Woops. Yet again, I was unfair to him.

He grinned at me "I hope you feel guilty for that little jibe."

We made a little detour to the kitchens for breakfast, and to see Eric. I really was a bad Mummy.

"Eric! Mummy's very sorry that she didn't come and see you more yesterday!"

The house elf he was being looked after by seemed to be very fond of him though, and he was happily chewing away on what looked like an old wooden spoon, so James grabbed a bacon butty and I grabbed a granola bar and we trouped off to the dorms to get our bags.

* * *

"Right... so where were you exactly?" Kiki asked me as we trailed out of transfiguration

"And how are you going to tell Mark that you'll be missing this whole week's practices because you have a detention every night of the week?" Liv pressed

James grimaced "He's going to kill us."

Fred slapped him on the back "Don't worry mate. This is Zabini, not Wood."

Kiki smiled. She was more than glad to see Fred out of the hospital bed and back joking and slapping people.

At lunch, just as had happened every day since it was announced, everyone went silent as I walked in, and stared at me.

"You know who's fault this is?" Liv asked "Malfoy's. No one else in Slytherin has enough brains to work out what Prof Idiot was on about."

James snarled and pulled out his wand in what seemed to be a reflex action "I know. Don't remind me."

Over dinner James and I told Fred, Liv and Kiki about finding the head's dorms, although neither of us had the foggiest idea how to get back there. James's reckoned he could find it alright using the map.

McG stood up when everyone had finished their dinner, her arms open in a silence gesture

"Please, hush." She commanded "I have some grave news."

Whispers sped around the hall, and faces turned to stare at me.

"Two of our students are facing an Azkaban sentence for attempted murder."

Silence. Stunned silence, that screamed much louder than any words.

James was tense and wooden next to me, and Fred the same across from me. It was the same for all of those who knew the students in question in person. All of the Weasleys and Potters, Sunny, Iris...

"Mathew Higgins and Albus Potter are these students. Due to the sensitive nature of this crime, they are to be held at the ministry while evidence is gathered. Their trial is expected to take place sometime in January. If any of you have any information on this you must come forward. Please be polite to the Auror guests we will be playing host to for the rest of this month, and through December, until they have the information they need. Good night."

* * *

The auror guest proved to be like silent but very obvious stains on the happy, safe Hogwarts. It was as though a big, bright painting had been subtly darkened. The only small consolation that McG's announcement had was the rumours about me stopping... people had a much better gossip topic now.

The affect it had on Fred and James was startling. Fred had taken to drinking a sizable mug of fire whiskey every night to 'help him sleep', and James simply wasn't doing anything at all. He was completely frozen, and blaming himself for what had happened. He was convinced that if he'd been a better brother, Albus wouldn't have 'turned to Mat for attention'. Rose was worse than ever, and any attempts to push Rose and Scorpius together resulted in disaster:

"Why do I have to go to the third floor broom cupboard?" He asked Kiki. Liv and I watched from under James's cloak "It sounds more than a little suspicious."

Well, matey, you shouldn't have been such an ass hole and told everyone about my family background, should you? At least my father isn't Draco Malfoy! Oh, wait, he's Draco Malfoy's boss.

Ha! A Malfoy bowing down to a squib!

"He can do magic." I breathed, horrified "He's just the same as me now."

"What?" Liv asked, startled at my sudden panic

"My dad!" I wailed, forgetting all about the Mission Malfoy

Kiki and Malfoy froze.

"Run!" Kiki shrieked, abandoning any pretence. Holding the cloak tightly around us, we did just that. The only plus side was that Malfoy didn't know who was under the cloak... not that it was particularly hard to guess. Where Kiki was, Liv and I weren't far behind.

Another attempt ended up with Rose covered in purple goo.

"Well it was meant to be a 'boost your attraction' paste." Wailed Liv "I got it from Chang's as well!"

Rose seems to have excellent hearing, because she stormed out of the bathroom then, yelling "So it was you, huh? Hilarious. Really. Just go and jump off the astronomy tower and save me the deal!"

Maybe she's a secret bat Animagus or something. They have good hearing, right? Bats? Or was it rabbits? You know, because of their big ears...?

"The world hates us." Liv said sadly. If she were a house elf, her ears would have been drooping.

We decided we would stop Mission Malfoy until after all the Mat/Albus trauma was over. Instead we spent the days in the library, looking up everything we could about wizarding trials. However, there didn't really seem to be a 'Getting Out of a Life in Azkaban: The Step By Step Guide' or similar.

"It says here that all serious trials have to use veritaserum now, after all that trouble they had in the War. Although they weren't planning on someone underage committing a serious crime, were they?" Kiki said, reading from one of the newer books

"Surely just the truth should be enough?" Liv asked "why wouldn't they believe us if we just tell them what we heard?"

I sighed "If we tell anyone that we went into the Forbidden Forest, after the headmistress had told us we would be expelled if we were ever found out of bounds again... well we're dead meat. Hogwarts is the only place I'm truly away from Father, isn't it? The blood wards wouldn't keep him out from Trelain Manor would they? He's related to me. Although Gran and Granddad's wards would hold against him as they're only related through marriage."

"Oh." Liv whispered "Well we better keep looking then, hadn't we? How's James, by the way? Didn't he and Fred decide they were going to use the RoR to floo home and see their parents for a bit?"

"Yeah. He's not coping too good you know." I replied with a sigh. It was really getting me down, although I supposed he'd always done whatever I needed when I was struggling... so I should respect his wishes now that he's struggling... it was just hard. I felt as though I wasn't good enough to reassure him. Like I wasn't supporting him enough.

I shook my head a little, and slapped myself (gently – red cheeks aren't as cool as they were in Gran's time). Spending all my time worrying seemed to have become a favourite pastime of mine, joy of joys. I was like a big bag of teenage angst.

"You know what?" Kiki asked a while later

"No, but you're about to tell us." Liv said dryly

Kiki grinned a little "We haven't been upholding our reputation with pranks very well you know."

I gaped at her. Kiki is on drugs. Since when did she even care at all about pranks? She's like the Hermione of our little group!

Liv, however, had already discarded this strange behaviour, and a familiar (but long absent) mischievous glint sparkled in her eyes "Brilliant idea, Ki. Especially seeing as we've put Mission Malfoy on hold, the little bastards. What are we doing then?"

Kiki grinned sadistically "I think it's about time Rose paid for what she's done."

* * *

We were laughing for the first time in what felt like ages. Not my girly giggle, or Liv's nervous titter, or Kiki's aristocratic 'oh ha ha! That was very entertaining'. No, a proper, drunken man belly laugh that echoed around the halls.

This was one of the best charms I'd found in a long time. It allowed those who had been 'keyed in' to the spell to hear one and other, but the rest of the world remained blissfully unaware of the noise.

"I can't believe we just did that!" I exclaimed, watching as the suits of armour modelled Rose's underwear – granny pants and sports bras in white only. Oh how we'd giggled when we'd summoned them. We knew Rose was a bit frumpy... but this?? Besides, hadn't we dealt with the frumpy problem when we gave her a makeover? Oh yeah – what makeover? She was dressing just as badly as ever.

"Do you think it'll work?" I asked "I mean, I know what the spell should do, but..."

Kiki grinned "Oh trust me, we're home safe and dry with this one."

And with that, we ran back to the dorms.

The next morning I sat curled up next to James on the sofa. Yet again, he was playing with my hair, but other than that he showed no signs of even being alive. It was so painful to watch. He'd returned from his parent's house late the night before, and his trip didn't seem to have done him any good at all.

Liv and Kiki looked at my sympathetically as they came down the stairs. All the same, they both had a very mischievous air about them, and I guess I did too.

Due to a very ingenious concealment charm, Rose hadn't even noticed all her underwear was gone. She strode out of the portrait hole with her head high and her nose in the air. I grinned and pulled James to his feet. We followed Rose down to the Great Hall.

Thankfully Scorpius Malfoy hadn't arrived yet – none of us wanted to miss the show, and we weren't disappointed. Only moments later he came running into the hall, without any of his goons trailing him.

Instead, all the suits of armour, clad in Rose's granny pants and such, came chasing after him, proclaiming that:

'I wanna have your babies! I'm serious, like crazy! Ooohhh!!! I wanna have your babies!" In what was unmistakably Rose's voice, singing badly to a slightly altered version of an old muggle song.

We laughed until tears came out of our eyes. Really, it was just one of the funniest things we'd seen this early in the morning for quite a while. James was a little put out at first, seeing his cousin so offended, but soon laughed along with the rest of the hall.

Scorpius was redder than Rudolph's nose, and Rose was possibly redder than that. Both of them looked as furious as the other.

McGonagall stood up at the staff table, and the hall fell silent. The only thing that could be heard was the rusty voices of the suits of armour, now doing the belly dance.

McG was mad. She was more than mad, she was about to blow up. It was actually quite terrifying, and we could only pray that Ki had been able to hide her signature as well as usual.

"Potter!" She shrieked. James and I looked up at her "What is the meaning of this?!"

James and I looked at each other. Understanding dawned in his eyes, and he whispered to me "Is this part of Mission Malfoy?"

I grinned. I wasn't about to lie to him, so if I didn't answer, just let him make up his own mind...

He turned back to McG "Oh, dear. I've been looking for my underwear all morning."

* * *

We had detentions from McG to add to our detentions for missing the start of transfiguration as well, and Mark was less than happy, although he didn't really have a choice.

Although I would have happily had a whole year's worth of detention – this morning, with his joke to McG about the underwear being his, was the first time since McG's announcement that he'd seemed like... well, the old James used to.

We were in Herbology – our first lesson after the dancing armour incident, and the only lesson other than potions that I didn't share with James - when Liv turned to me, frowning thoughtfully. She'd already finished potting her Reedy Sprot, while me and Ki struggled onwards, covered in dragon dung and other delightfully smelling things.

"Why did you respond to 'Potter' and not to 'Locket'?" she asked, eyes twinkling

Kiki put down her trowel and looked at me curiously. I felt like an exhibit in a zoo "Yeah... at breakfast, with McG."

"I-I didn't...!"

I didn't, did I? That's absurd!

"Have you told him you love him yet?" Liv asked blandly

I baulked. Love? Who said anything about that? Was she insane! Two months ago we were sworn enemies! It was only just the end of November, for Godric's sake!

Thankfully I was saved from answering when Prof Longbottom ambled over to Liv and congratulated her on being the only student to have successfully re-potted the plant, and without a partner as well!

I let out the breath I'd been holding in, and turned back to the purple plant in question.

* * *

Our detentions from both teachers turned out to be a simple line writing deal, thankfully. In my pure and shear genius I taped six quills together, so that I wrote one line, and got six (increasingly messy) lines instead. All was going well until I ran out of ink, and couldn't fit my six-pen-contraption into the ink-well.

As expected, Mark yet again threatened to throw us off the quidditch team, but as all three of us knew, if he sacked either or both of James and I, the team would be about as effective as a niffler trying to find a marshmallow. A quidditch team without a seeker or three chasers? Not to mention that he was now missing his keeper as well. He was insane if he thought two beaters and two chasers could win him the house cup.

Lucy, of course, was suffering from our absence at training. Fred was that bit too intimidating, Mat was obviously no longer available as a keeper... and Lu had only been playing for a very short time. Something the Slytherins took great pleasure in reminding us, frequently.

James was struggling to remain... polite in those such situations. He was taking out all his frustration on the poor green and silver goons, not that I minded. Our house points were suffering considerably from it though, pushing Gryffindor further and further away from first place every time he jinxed them.

"James? Please, sweetie, try and be a little more grown up?" I begged him, as a Slytherin went tumbling down the stairs, victim to a simple trip hex

He just growled and tightened his hold on my hand. I dragged him away into the cold evening air to try and clear his head.

We walked slowly around the lake in the dying light.

"How can you cope?" He asked after a while of silence

I nearly asked what about, although it was painfully obvious. How do you deal with betrayal.

"You can't, Jamie. It hurts like hell and it makes you never want to trust anyone ever again. But that feeling gets easier to deal with after a while... and you can let the people you really care about in again. The first step to getting on with your life, I found, was accepting that people aren't perfect. The world doesn't have happily ever afters planned out for each and every one of us. We all make mistakes with our trust at some point or other."

My words sounded odd to my ears. Who was I kidding? Get over it? I was never going to get over it. Being betrayed by someone as close to you as Mat was to James will stay with him for life. James won't be the same James ever again, as melodramatic as that sounds. How could he be? If he went through all of that, and it didn't change him, I'd think he was a callous, hardened, emotionless Slytherin.

He didn't answer, just left my words to hang in the darkening surroundings.

"You wouldn't do that... would you?" He asked quietly

I blinked "Do what, Jamie?"

He stuttered a little "Just, just that, well... er... you know. I-if you weren't t-there for me... and F-Fred... w-well...uh..."

Okay, so he stuttered a lot, and trailed off pathetically.

I thought about what he was trying to say for quite a while. Well, if I'm honest, it didn't make much sense.

A grin flitted over my face "James Potter, was that a thank you?"

He smiled faintly back at me "I guess so... but don't tell anyone." Although his eyes showed a little... I don't know what.

Still, I got the faint impression that his stuttered words had meant something different to him than just the 'thank you' they had meant to me.

* * *

I received an owl from St. Mungo's a few days after the 'thank you' incident.

_Dear Miss Locket,_

_I am happy to inform you that your sister, Emma Locket, who is currently in our Intensive Care Ward, is making pleasing progress. _

_As of yet we are still unable to say what kind of long term damage may have been caused, but as she continues to improve we come closer and closer to an accurate diagnosis, and therefore a treatment. _

_As in your Mother's will, you have been left with guardianship of Emma. As you turn seventeen in June of this year, there is still some time when she is under ministry care, as your mother's will clearly states that Emma was not to be sent to her grandparents._

_As your grandparents are still your legal guardians, and blood relations, they are automatically given access to visit her, as are you. However, although Emma is now stable enough to receive visitors, please be warned that she is still in a magical coma, and will not react to your presence. _

_Should you wish to arrange a visit, a floo can be arranged to St. Mungo's directly from Hogwarts. If you wish to speak to either a healer about your sister's progress, or indeed see a councillor to help you deal with the stress and trauma of your ordeal, it can easily be arranged._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Healer Benson_

I froze for a moment, about half way through reading that letter. This was the first formal proof I had that my mother had died. I'd known she probably had for years, but still, you cling to a small, ridiculous glimmer of hope that somehow she would still be alive.

I just felt numb about it. I'd long ago taken an aesthetic to the pain my family had caused me, bottling up all the hurt they'd caused. At the same time, I was over the moon that Emma was making some progress... although I didn't know if I could face going to see her.

"I just feel so selfish." I confided in Liv and Ki in our dorm, after everyone else was asleep "The only reason I'm not rushing off to see her right now is because I don't know if I can take the extra stress of it. It's like I'm too weak to protect her; instead I'm protecting myself."

"Oh sweetheart." Liv cooed consolingly "Everyone's allowed to be human, you know. You can't carry on being this eternally strong person forever."

I scratched the top of Eric's ears lightly as I thought. He'd grown considerably since the house elves had been looking after him, and I got the feeling they were spoiling him just a tad...

Kiki opened her trunk solemnly, and with a jolt I realised she was getting out a piece of Emergency Diet Exempt Honeyduke's Finest Dark Chocolate for me... I really must have looked a mess.

She handed it to me, and both my best friends watched me closely as I took the slab in my hand.

Normally I would just snap off a small amount and nibbled on it, handing the rest back. If it was really bad, I would skip the snapping phase and go straight to the nibbling phase.

I took a big, manly bite out of it, and watched as Ki and Liv's faces drained of colour, and they looked at each other worriedly.

"That bad, huh?" Ki asked

I grinned almost sadistically, as though I was enjoying my own pain "That bad."

* * *

The last day of November was particularly painful. Liv tearfully told us that she'd not even spoken to Andy (the 'boyfriend') for almost a week and a half now, and she was fed up of it. Yet again our little Livy had gotten her heat broken, and Kiki was starting to lose patience.

"Liv, when will you realise that the only people you can truly trust that much are your best friends. Putting this much into one guy, who neither me nor Dannie had even met properly... that's a bit risky... isn't it?"

Of course, the mention of trusting best friends just brought the Mat and Albus case to the forefront of everyone's minds. We'd almost gone through all of that particular section of the library, and found absolutely nothing. Nada. Zilch. It was coming down to a simple choice – handing an innocent Albus to the dementors, for life, or handing my life over on a silver plate to my father. Neither options were exactly my first choice, I suppose you could say.

Of course, I'd not told anyone that particular dilemma. Liv would have just worried, Kiki would have told me I was being silly and that of course there would be a third solution... and James. James was in no state to be told any bad news at all.

At quarter to one in the morning, James sat on the rug by the fire, just as he had been three hours previous, in silence. Fred had long ago gone to bed (drunk as a skunk, as with every night nowadays), Kiki was sat with the still crying Liv, handing out tissues and occasionally casting a drying charm on Eric, who was proving he had potential as a Councillor Dog. Or at least a good thing for Liv to hug whilst she cried. Rose Weasley and Polly and Katie had all long gone up to sleep as well, although not without Rose's moans that Liv was making too much noise.

I looked over at James from my position on the rug next to him, tucked under his arm slightly.

"Jamie? Sweetie, you need to go to sleep." I told him, rubbing his arm consolingly

He didn't react

"Come on, you can't live your life like this forever. I've already told you we're going to get your brother out of this mess... but I need a good way to do it."

I paused. Should I tell him the truth about what would happen if I owned up to hearing Mat and Albus in the hut? Wasn't it more than he could cope with to know that I had a way to prove his innocence, but I was too selfish to risk myself for his little brother?

No. I couldn't, and I wouldn't.

"We can't use a truth potion because he's under seventeen, and that rules out legimency as well... But there has to be something, you know."

Still no reaction

"Mrs Potts?" I called softly. Perhaps a hot chocolate... or something stronger?

An almost apologetic CRACK announced the arrival of my house elf.

I frowned. Had Mrs Potts been pigging out while I was gone?

She wheezed slightly, her big bat ears flopping around, and then doubled over in pain, clutching her stomach

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" I panicked

Another CRACK and Mr Potts was with us, patting his wife's back gently and looking very flustered. James looked at them blankly

Mr Potts was rubbing Mrs Pott's back now, trying to get her to lie down, but she was having none of it, claiming 'Mistress has summoned Mrs Potts! Mrs Potts does as Mistress asks!'

"No! You're in pain, please, can I help you in anyway?"

She wailed, doubling over again.

"James!" I snapped, slapping him hard "Get a bloody grip and help me!"

He blinked at me, and then looked at Mrs Potts "She's giving birth."

"WHAT?!"

"W-we is v-very sorry!" wailed Mr Potts, trying to bash his head on the stone fireplace, but remembering just in time that I'd ordered him never to punish himself

"Sorry? What for?" What would they have to be sorry for, other than not telling me?

"Mistress did not tell Mr and Mrs Potts they could have babies!"

I looked at James "Babies plural?" I whispered, worried "She's having more than one?"

James gave the first sign of a grin he'd shown in days "Oh yes. House elves rarely have less than triplets. Most of them have about five or six, but their masters kill off the weaker looking ones, or any spares."

I was horrified. Kill off the weaker ones?! Spares?! Presumably that was why Mr and Mrs Potts were so worried?

"Right." I said faintly "Well, I'm very happy for you two. Of course you'll be able to keep all your children; I'll get the rest of the basement of the south wing converted into a nursery area? But I really think Mrs Potts needs to see a healer..."

And that is how me and James ended up in the hospital wing at about half one in the morning, chatting to a house elf about what we wanted to call the babies. So far there was one, a little girl.

"I think you should call all the girls Miss Potts, and all the boys Mr Potts." James declared, grinning at the very tired looking Madam L, who was holding the tiny creature carefully in one hand, and handing Mrs Potts a potion in the other hand.

I groaned "James, no! No Mr and Miss Potts, okay? Besides, I already have a Mr Potts!"

"Mr Potts did you and your wife have any ideas?" I asked

He looked horrified. Oops, I've yet again offended my house elf

"Mr Potts couldn't name Mistresses' house elves for her! No, no, no!"

"Oh."

An hour later and we had three girls: Poppy, Rosie and Posey and two boys: Dobby and Robby.

I was astonished at just how fast she gave birth. For a human, getting five children out would take much longer than an hour, right? I never really paid any attention to that kind of thing. I hate kids, as a rule. Emma was an exception. And Lucy, if she still classed as a kid.

Madam L insisted that they stay in over night, but said Mrs Potts had done very well for a first time Mum. All the house elves from the castle came and cooed over the new babies, and brought odd assortments of tiny tea-cosies that seemed to do as all-in-ones for the new babies.

James and I walked back to the Fat Lady hand in hand, exhausted. Mrs Potts having babies was the silver lining to what had been a very cloudy week indeed.

* * *

_Sorry for the delay! _

_As I said at the top, I'm starting this treatment tomorrow... so wish me luck!_

_I know it's rude pulling the 'I'm ill' card... but really, any reviews mean a lot to me, even if they're not positive reviews... and it would be lovely to have some reviews before I go into hospital tomorrow!_

_Thank you for reading_

_Ashi_

_xxx_


	20. Confused?

_Well... the last few chapters have been a bit heavy on the ground. If, like Liv, you're a little confused, then here's Kiki to explain it for you!_

_This isn't the next chapter as such, but I get the feeling my story's getting a little complicated!_

* * *

_A/N: this isn't from Dannie's POV – it's written in 3__rd__ person_

Liv and Kiki sat in the library, while Dannie was at quidditch practice, searching yet again for a loophole that would get Albus out of Azkaban, without getting Dannie expelled. As yet, this was proving difficult.

Liv was trying her best to concentrate, but in all honesty, her brain had long wandered away. Kiki was clearly engrossed in whatever giant book she was reading now. It was times like this that Liv truly appreciated just how much cleverer Kiki was than either her or Dannie.

Her brain in fact had wandered to their trip in the forest. More importantly, the time when Dannie had been speaking to Voldemort. Liv had done her best to nod at the right times when Dannie had tried to explain, but she was about as lost as Scorpius Malfoy in a cinema. Kiki had clearly understood, and asked all sorts of clever questions and such.

Liv wondered about going and asking Dannie about it, but she felt stupid admitting to her best friend that she'd been lying about understanding.

Kiki had been observing Liv subtly from behind the book for a while now, and had a small smile on her face. Kiki knew that Liv was teetering on the edge of saying something out loud

"Liv, what is it?" She asked

Liv started, and then looked at Kiki sheepishly

"I'm very confused."

Kiki frowned a little. Confused? What about? It was simple, surely? They were just trying to find a loophole in a law! Right?

"About, you know, Dan. All that stuff about her and V-Voldemort." Liv clarified

Kiki's neatly plucked eyebrows rose towards her thick afro hair.

"W-well... it's a bit confusing, right?" Liv stuttered. Why had she chosen to bring this up with the one person who was so much more intelligent than her?! She should have asked James! At least he wasn't some sort of genius.

Kiki gathered her thoughts a little, resting the book on her knee.

"Well... Liv's Granddad, Mr Gaunt, is the son of Marvolo Gaunt. So Mr Gaunt is the same age as Scorpius's granddad, Lucius Malfoy. Marvolo Gaunt was Voldemort's uncle, because he was the brother of Voldie's mum. Right?"

Liv frowned and tapped her foot a little, thinking hard. "Right, so basically Voldemort is actually Dannie's third cousin or something? So why does she call him her great uncle?"

"I guess it's just because he's older, isn't he? He's not really cousin material. I guess being the evil great uncle sounds better." Kiki mused "Anyway, there's some sort of curse on Slytherin's bloodline. The curse only affects the female members. In a way, it's a startlingly brilliant curse. It actually allows you to bring people's souls back from the dead, much the way the Resurrection Stone works."

Liv felt the blood drain out of her face, leaving her pale and pasty "So Dannie can bring people's souls back from the dead! How?"

"Well... it's something to do with how she can stop time. Er... she can open this gateway into what she calls the Soul World, which is obviously where all the souls go after death. A bit like heaven, although not. Once there's a gate, things can get in, and more importantly, out."

Liv spluttered a little "Dannie can go to the place where souls go after death?! Wouldn't that make her dead as well?"

Kiki sighed a little "No. Her body is still functioning, her brain is still thinking, her heart still pumping. It's only her soul that has moved... actually, that is a bit strange. Maybe that's something to do with the potion?"

"Potion?" Liv said, confused yet again "What potion?"

Kiki frowned "You remember when the caretaker supposedly bit Dan? Well, that was just a cover. What actually happened was that the caretaker had found some old potion recipes, which were enchanted by Voldemort to possess whoever found them. So now he was possessed, he made the potion, attacked Dannie, and injected the potion into her veins."

"But why did she need a potion? Couldn't she already do the Soul World thingy?"

Kiki pulled at one of her curls a little, shifting in the armchair "No... You know how Dan's mum went insane, and then died? That was because of the curse. All the females from Slytherin's line are affected like that. Voldemort's mother died only hours after giving birth to him, because of the curse."

Liv was horrified "So Dan's gonna die?!"

"No. Actually, the potion that the caretaker injected is the thing that will stop Dannie going insane. What happens is that the potion unlocks the ability to visit the Spirit World. Obviously only the cursed bloodline of Slytherin would be affected by the potion. If it was injected into anyone else, it would probably give them a mild headache and make them feel dizzy for a few hours. The reason Dan's mum died, and Voldemort's mum as well, is because they _weren't_ given the potion. The curse sort of... went bad, inside of them, and that caused the insanity."

Liv's mouth was screwed up in a confused pout, as she processed the information "Right, so Voldie's potion was injected into Dan by the caretaker. The potion sets the curse on her blood off, and keeps her sane at the same time. Sort of like a bitter-sweet victory? A curse and a blessing all in one?"

Kiki nodded "Yeah, that's it."

"So why did Dan say when we got back from the forest that she couldn't use the stop time thing again?" Liv asked "And how does the stop time thing work anyway?"

Kiki sighed quietly. Much though she loved Liv as a best friend, she could be ridiculously infuriating at times.

"It goes back to the Soul World. Voldemort is dead, yes? So his soul is in the Soul World. When Dan uses the 'stop time' thing, she opens a gate into the Soul World, and borrows time from there. She doesn't stop time; she borrows it from a different place. But, when that gate is open, all of the souls in the Spirit World are free to roam out of there, and Voldemort seems to be..."

Kiki trailed off, her eyes wide and panicked "What if..." She whispered. Liv didn't hear her though, so Kiki filed away that little thought for later and went back to explaining.

"And Voldemort seems to have worked out that he can now get back into the world we live in. He can posses other people, and use them as slaves to do his bidding."

Liv nodded, and the two of them went back to reading the books on Azkaban Law.

Liv frowned as she read about the horrific cells at Azkaban, and what Albus would face were he to be sent there. Kiki, similarly, was horrified as she skimmed through old newspaper clippings about Sirius Black's unjust trial, escape, and then death.

Something clicked in Kiki's brain, and she began to wonder if she was going about this in the right way. With the amount of evidence they had against Albus, there really was no way he would be proved innocent. As the self proclaimed realist of the three girls, Kiki had already subconsciously resigned Albus to a lifelong fate in Azkaban.

But what if they could break him out? Sirius Black had managed it all by himself, hadn't he? So surely a bunch of school kids could do it.

Kiki snorted to herself. Lunacy. Lunacy was clearly catching, because she'd caught it from somewhere. She'd probably be disowned and never have to be queen after all.

Liv, however, had come up to a section about squib trials, and that brought her mind round to Dannie's father.

"Ki, where does Mr Locket fit into all of this?"

Kiki paused, shaking herself out of her Azkaban escape plans. "Well... he was a squib, but Voldemort's managed to give him magic, somehow. Anyway, if Voldemort had Dannie on his side, then the gate between the Spirit World and the normal world could be closed... while Voldemort was _this_ side of the gate. At the moment, Dan can still push Voldemort back to the Spirit World. I think Voldemort must have done a deal with Mr Locket; magic in return for his daughter."

Liv was horrified. "What, you mean Voldemort needs Dan's blood to come back to life, so he's done a deal with her father?"

Kiki's mind, yet again, worked over fast, thinking through things, pondering in a way that would have made Albus Dumbledore proud.

"Blood... I need to check something..." Kiki muttered, before shoving the book on the table, waving apologetically at Liv, and dashing off.

Liv sat very still for a moment, then picked up the book on her lap, and the one Kiki had just thrown on the table, and handed them to the librarian, who eyed her viciously, and then scurried off.

Liv shrugged, unfussed, and headed in the direction of the quidditch changing rooms. After all, when you've just split up with the one guy you've ever felt anything for, what's a better remedy than a hot, sweaty quidditch player?

On the other side of the castle, Kiki banged on Headmistress McGonagall's office door, ignoring the imperious glares of the guarding griffin.

"Headmistress! Please, I have to speak with you immediately! It's a matter of life and death!"

* * *

_Well, there you go! I hope that cleared things up a little. If not, please just tell me in a review, and I'll send you a message back explaining! I'm in the throes of writing the next chapter right now, so hang on there!_


	21. Never, Ever

**You are not going to believe what has happened...**

**I'M IN REMISSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M NOT ILL AT THE MOMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LALALALALLALALALALALAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
**

**AHHAHAHAHA I'M SOOOOOOOO HAPPY!**

**SOO SORRY I HAVEN'T UPLOADED IN AGES... BUT THE TREATMENT WAS PRETTY INTENSE, AND I STILL NEED TIME TO GET MY LIFE A BIT MORE ON TRACK... BUT I'M BETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**If you've ever been really ill, then you'll understand when I say it's sort of like waking up from a very strange dream, finding out that I'm well for a while, and hopefully forever. Obviously, I could very easily be ill again, and have to go back to hospital and what not... but for the moment, I'm just completely over the moon!**

**Anyway, hopefully I'll be back to school in September, if all goes according to plan XD **

**I just can't believe my luck!**

**On a less happy note, I won't be posting for at least another two weeks, I'm really sorry. I just have so many people to catch up with that I've not seen in years, and so much that I want to do now that I'm healthy again. But I'm NOT giving up this story, not after it's helped me so much while I've had nothing else that I could really even do - I wasn't allowed out of the house at all, and a lot of time I was simply lying in bed in a darkened room. **

**Anyway, I wish everyone the best, and for anyone who's ill like I was (and hopefully never will be again), NEVER, EVER, EVER GIVE UP. THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING WORTH FIGHTING FOR.**

**lalalalalalalalalalalala............................ SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! **


	22. TapeRecorded Death

_Hope you enjoy it! It's pretty long again... but it makes up for the long time between this and the last chapter!_

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I could feel the wind whipping and rushing through my hair, which had gone a touch darker in recent weeks. It often does though – the colour change charm is affected by the sunlight, and now that the darker winter months are well and truly in full force my hair is darker than ever. This, added to the occasional bout of sleet has really added to my dismal mood.

The reserve keeper had nothing on Mat, and every time he missed and let a quaffle in, you could see everyone's faces tense up, remembering how things used to be.

Despite all of that, I felt freer than I had in months, up in the air on a broom. Watching James as he tossed the quaffle with lazy ease to Lucy. He, Mark and Lucy worked together better than anyone had imagined and our team, despite the awful things that had happened in the past few weeks seemed to be pulling together through it.

Fred, toying with his beater's bat, glanced over at me and grinned when he caught me staring at James

"Oi! Locket! You're meant to be finding the snitch, not ogling your boyfriend!" He bellowed, embarrassingly enough.

Lucy jumped a little, looking round at me and losing her focus. She threw the ball badly to Mark, who then screeched at her for not concentrating. Lucy's face paled, and her big eyes widened.

I turned my full attention to searching for the snitch; this practice could do with being over.

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The team, wet, muddy and sweaty trailed back to our changing rooms. The Hufflepuffs had been practicing before us, so their changing rooms were steamed up from the showers, and loud, raucous voices could be heard.

The two girls on the Hufflepuff team, Jenny and Fiona came marching out, frowning and moaning.

"Hey, Locket! You're friend Cardew's in there, you know. She seems to be trying to break a record on how many of our team she can shag at once." The brunette one shouted at me, disgust marring her face

I felt my heart drop a little. Poor Livy. She must be really struggling with her breakup. Although, I have to say it was a little strange that we never got to meet said boy.

James, stood next to me with his arm slug casually around my shoulders, promised to wait for me in the changing rooms, while I went to check on Liv.

I pushed the door open cautiously

"Liv? Livy? Sweetie, this won't make the pain go away!"

The only answer I got was a disgusting slurping kind of noise. Gee, to think I always thought Liv was far too sophisticated to make slurping noises.

I peered cautiously around the lockers. Sure enough, there was my best friend, pinned between the Hufflepuff captain and the yellow lockers, one of her hands in his hair, the other trailing lower and lower on his bare chest. They were both breathing in the few gaps they got between snogging heavily.

I watched in this sort of morbid curiosity. It was so disgusting, and yet strangely fascinating. Although I was beginning to feel physically sick.

"Olivia Cardew!" I shouted "Stop sucking face with the goon!"

The two yanked apart, their lips swollen and dark red, hair and clothing ruffled. Liv's eyes widened when she saw me, and she stuttered a little. The three of us stood frozen in silence for a moment, when Liv seemed to look at me apologetically, and then grab said Goon's tie, and yank him back to her mouth.

I wrinkled my nose, but in the end I do have to respect my best friend's wishes, right? It's not my place to tell her what to and not to do.

Back in the Gryffindor changing rooms, everyone was just locking their lockers with various spells, and heading back to the great hall for evening snacks. There was one shower still on though, and I could just make out James's awful singing through the general clatter of the rest of the team.

"Later's, Locket, Potter!" came the chorus as everyone left.

I didn't know how to react with James at the moment. He was still wallowing in the self despair of his brother and Mat most of the time, although when he was up in the air playing quidditch, or helping me with my house elves, a little of the old James shone through.

I sighed and began stripping the practice robes off, shivering slightly as I stood folding the robes and putting them neatly in my locker, wearing only my underwear and humming lightly to myself.

I heard the shower shut off, and James pulling a towel round himself. His feet slapped on the floor as he headed for his locker. I began to panic – I was only in my underwear, for crying out loud! I know normally I would have no problems with a guy seeing me in my undies, but this was James! It was different!

But maybe... maybe it would snap him out of his little self loathing muddle? A bit like what Liv was doing with the Hufflepuff captain?

Does that make me cheap? No... I'm his girlfriend...?

But by the time I'm whittled and worried, he was round the corner, clad in just a towel and staring at me, jaw slack.

"Um...er... I-I er... I w-waited for you..." He mumbled, eyes glued to what McG calls 'Bosoms'.

I stood very still, like a scared forest animal. In all fairness, I was terrified. I'd just plunged our relationship into very different grounds, and I didn't have a clue how to react.

Gah! Of all the times to freeze in front of a guy, now is the time I actually do? The last time I felt this scared in front of a guy was second year!

James, however, seemed to be functioning just fine. He was close now, close enough to count the individual water droplets on his chest anyway. Not that my eyes were somehow stuck to his wonderful quidditch muscles, of course.

His breathing was faster than usual as he lifted a finger and tilted my chin up to meet his eyes

"Dan..." He breathed, his eyes scrutinizing every move I made. I squirmed a little, uncomfortable

He stepped forward again, pressing my bare back cold against the lockers. Goosebumps flashed across my skin from the cold metal. He put one hand on either side of my face, and leaned closer and closer. My eyes shut, and the snitches in my stomach seemed to change into bludgers.

His lips on mine were hot and heavy, no hint of the previously soft touches we had shared. This was different, very different. My hands twirled through his sopping wet hair as he prized my lips open, his tongue tasting strange... wait that tastes of shampoo! Had he been eating shampoo?

The taste was only faint though, and soon I couldn't taste it at all. It was just the taste of James, his tongue harsh against mine. His hands moving confidently down my neck and then down the sides of my body, tickling lightly as they passed my stomach and pausing on my hips. His slick, wet body against mine pushed the bludgers away. One of his arms slipped around the small of my back, pressing me closer to him, making me bend around to reach his mouth still. The kiss was, like all those we'd shared recently, harsh, hot and heavy. It was passionate, not loving. That both thrilled and scared me, although his touch on my stomach was gentler now, as though he'd settled into himself again.

As he settled, so did I, and I begin to crave his touch on my skin more and more. It felt like I needed him more than I needed to eat, to breath, to live. It was just him, me and him, in a blissful little bubble.

His hands brushed higher up on my stomach again, coming closer and closer to the lacy fabric of my bra. His touch sent hot ripples through my skin, and I pushed myself closer to his touch, craving it.

He responded in kind, pulling on the fabric teasingly, moving his mouth from mine and nibbling down my neck. Both of us were breathing short and sharp, and the sound seemed to be amplified in the tiled changing rooms. One of his fingers teased under the wire, and I tensed as it sent goose bumps over my skin.

He paused, looking at me with burning eyes.

"You're so beautiful." He whispered reverently, trailing the single finger back and forth, just under the edge of my bra. I went to reply, but all that came out was a muffled moan. He gave a very 'Idiot Group' style smirk, and his finger slipped higher and higher agonizingly slowly.

"S-stop... teasing." I whimpered

His eyes burned brightly, and he bent to suck hard on my neck, almost certainly leaving a mark. Ha, that's going to be fun to explain to McG.

"_Where did you get that mark, young lady?"_

"_Well, my most darling headmistress... when... Erm..."_

Yeah... doesn't sound fun.

James had one hand fully under my bra now, teasing and trailing all over my boob, while the other reached round and twiddled with the clasp, undoing it with a _'snap'_.

We were so caught up in what we were doing, that we didn't even hear the door open.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Yeah... we heard the scream.

James leapt off me, and we both turned to the source of the noise guiltily.

Lucy stood there, her stuff at her feet where she'd clearly dropped it, jaw slack and eyes wide

"Er... Hi?" James offered

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I sat on Liv's bed in the dorms, my head in my hand. Kiki was scribbling on a parchment (divination homework) and Liv was rolling around on the floor laughing her head off

"Hahaha! What did she say?" Liv wheezed

My face was brighter red than it had been in a very long time. In fact, I never blush. Well, today seems to be an exception.

"She sort of stuttered something about forgetting her scarf, and then turned tail and ran." I said, horrified.

"And what were you and James wearing?" Liv asked, for the fourth time

I groaned "Liv, you know he was in a towel and I was in my undone bra and my knickers."

She cackled and wheezed and rolled around clutching her sides.

"Eric, you feel sorry for Mummy, don't you?" I cooed "You understand how it feels?"

Eric looked at me for a moment, and then his face screwed up, almost in intense concentration. A few moments later, a horrid smell drifted my way, and Liv cackled more than ever.

Eric did have the decency to look at least a little ashamed.

The next morning we got up and went for a run, showered and make-upped. I grabbed my bag and picked up Eric, who had defiantly grown since I'd first transfigured him. By the time we reached the kitchens to hand him over to the house elves, my arm was killing me from his weight.

The three of us marched into the Great Hall, chattering happily about a new range of shoes at Chang's.

I was not prepared for almost all of the first year, and some of the second years, to stop eating their breakfast and stare at me like I was some kind of foreign species.

I must have just missed James as we left the common room, because I felt his strong arms wrap around my middle and his lips grinning against my neck as he whispered 'Morning' in my ear.

A big, cheesy grin split across my face. That was the James I knew!

The first and second years giggled and tittered and some of them even blushed, as though they were watching some sort of porn movie at breakfast.

Fred sauntered in after James, grabbing a piece of toast of Kiki's plate as he sat down next to my African friend.

I kept glancing around nervously, feeling the eyes of the younger students on my back.

Fred noticed, and grinned a feral grin. Now I knew, it wasn't hard to see the wolf in Fred

"So you two know?" He asked

We shook our heads

"There's a rumour going round that one of the firsties walked in on you two having sex in the Gryffie's changing rooms."

I felt my face heat up again, although I'd planned ahead this time and had a concealment charm covering the pinkness of my cheeks.

Fred however seemed to notice our stunned silence, and take it as an affirmative. He began cackling, similar to Liv had.

James and I looked at each other, eyes wide.

"Fred! We weren't... having sex." James hissed at his best friend and cousin

Fred, however, was in no mood to listen. No, he'd cast a sonorous charm on himself, and was now standing on the bench, waving to get people's attention.

I watched him in transfixed horror, as the hall turned to watch him. It was like watching a slug shrivel up and die after you've put salt on it. Awful, truly horrific, and you just can't not watch.

"Fred!" James warned "Sit the hell down!"

"JAMES POTTER AND DANNIE LOCKET HAD SEX IN THE GRYFFINDOR CHANGING ROOMS!"

I banged my head hard on the table. This is not happening to me. This is not happening to me. This is NOT HAPPENING TO ME!

Fred sat down again, looking very much like the cat that got the whole canary shop.

Liv grinned and high fived him, but Kiki huffed and turned her nose up. At least you know who your friends are.

The hall was silent for a moment, and then all hell broke loose. Everyone was straining to catch a glance of me and James, and all the teachers looked mortified.

"Oh Merlin." I muttered, as McG came storming towards us, tartan robes swinging menacingly

"Potter! Locket!" She said in a deadly, cold tone

I whimpered and shrank closer to James

"What on EARTH do you think you were DOING?" she continued, not caring the entire hall was listening

"We didn't... we weren't..." James tried miserably

She however, was in no mood to listen "And then think of the poor First Year! Goodness knows..."

On and on she waffled, and so my mind drifted. I had a divination essay to do, something about palm reading. I could probably get Kiki to help with that one "...highly irresponsible..." and then I've got a bit of Herbology as well... bubotubers I think. Maybe it was the Lefupters? "... Disgrace to Gryffindor..." and then there is the matter of Scorpius and Rose. Clearly no kind of magic is going to help us get them together. We'll have to resort to good old fashioned matchmaking "... can't believe it, what will your Grandmother say..." to get them together somehow. And then there's all that about Mat and Albus. There must be something, surely? "...one hundred points from Gryffindor..." I will not give up. Besides, "... yes, MY OWN HOUSE..." if I turned myself in now, can you imagine what McG would say? She'd think I've deliberately left school property when she'd specifically told me not to, _and_ had sex in the Gryffindor changing rooms. "... I'm flooing Harry and Ginny..." There is definately something a little off about Kiki. Like she knows something that the rest of us don't... she kept drifting and getting a far-away look in her eye. Maybe it's her Sight playing up again. It did that in third year, you know. Me and Liv joked for months that she needed Inner Glasses. "...ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME, LOCKET?"

"Oh... erm... yeah?"

Aw shucks. I might as well have given her a written confession for a crime I didn't even commit. It would save a lot of effort.

Her office was no better. James and I sat in the chairs as McG ranted and raved on. If she'd just let us get a word or two in here or there, she'd realise what a fool she was making of herself.

That made me grin. Ha! I'd have something on McG! Mwhahahaha!

"What? You think getting pregnant at your age is funny, Locket?" She snapped, eyes glinting and lips thin

"No. Of course not. I was just laughing at you."

Oh god. She's actually going to kill me. My mouth is a complete disgrace to all of Wizard Kind. Even James was looking at me like I was insane

"Honestly, I'll take Veritaserum if you want me to, _James and I were not having sex in the Gryffindor changing rooms!" _I continued "And if you'd stopped for one moment to consider all that 'fairness' crap you stand for, you'd have realised this was a stupid RUMOUR!"

And with that, I stormed out. Merlin I was ANGRY! So, so, SO ANGRY!

Okay, so maybe I ran out because I was terrified McG was about to kill me, but hey, same difference, right?

I soon lost track of where I was going. I was running as far as I could, as fast as I could, and I couldn't see through the tears.

"Hello Lily, sweetie, password please?"

"Muggle." I stated hoarsely

She smiled sympathetically at me as she swung open "James'll come round. He doesn't mean to hurt you, you know."

I nodded dumbly and curled up in a corner, forcing myself to keep my eyes open until I had regained control of myself enough to not open the Spirit World by accident.

I rocked myself gently, singing 'Scarbough Fair' softly under my breath. I didn't exactly have a wonderful voice – it was always a little flat, just like my mum's. I liked it that way. A connection to her, for once. Unlike Eliza, the portrait woman had assumed, it wasn't James this time. No, I think I was more angry at myself. If I'd not spent all that time being the slaggy bitch that I was, McG would have believed me when I said we DIDN'T HAVE SEX IN THE BLOODY CHANGING ROOMS!

"Mr Potts?" I called meekly

"Yes, Mistress? Is yous alright?" He asked, after the usual CRACK!

"Can I have some warm Sloosh, please? And a white choc chip cookie?"

Mr Pott's eyes widened, mentally calculating just quite how many calories I'd asked for, all in one go. All the same, he hurried off into the little kitchen area and quickly made the Sloosh, handing it to me while we waited for the cookies to cook.

"How is Mrs Potts?" I asked eventually, a lot calmer

Mr Potts smiled, and his eyes twinkled "Oh Mrs Potts is good, Mistress! Mr Potts is very grateful to Mistress!"

I grinned at him. It was nice to know that Mrs Potts and their new family was doing well.

"The childrens have started to talk, Mistress!"

I gawped at him. After like, a week? They're talking?

"Oh... wow! That's great!" I congratulated, a little bemused

"Oh yes, Mistress! They'll be ready for yous in about a month, Mr Potts thinks."

Gah. House elves. You can't say anything without offending them. If I say I don't want a ton more house elves, he'll be horrified...

"Well done." I settled for "Well, I won't keep you, I'm sure you and Mrs Potts are very busy."

Mr Potts wafted his ears around a little as he nodded, and then disappeared in a CRACK!

I settled on the dark red armchair, holding my Sloosh close to me and watching the flames in the grate flicker. About ten minutes later James stumbled through the portrait hole, his face bright red.

"Oh thank Merlin. I thought I'd find you here." He said, pouring himself some Sloosh and grabbing four cookies at once, before sitting on the floor at my feet leaning against my legs

"That was possibly the most embarrassing moment of my life." He proclaimed "Imagine this: my mum, dad, McG, Uncle Nev and Auntie Lu all in the head's office, trying to give me _The Talk_. No matter what I said, they wouldn't take no for an answer, until I got about as angry as you did, and broke one of McG's transfiguration thingies. You know, the silver one. Anyway, then I yelled a bit more and then stalked off."

I smiled a little. I wasn't really listen to what he was wailing about; I was just so happy he was being normal again.

"James? Do you want the rest of my cookie? I don't really want it now. I'm okay."

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"Look, Dan, it was pretty funny, you have to admit." Fred pleaded with me in Divination. Kiki glared at the two of us.

Yes... there's defiantly something off about Kiki.

"No, Fred, it wasn't funny. You've gotten me in some pretty deep shit now, thank you." I snapped, turning back to my bloody glass ball.

"All right, all right. Keep your knickers on." He retorted, rolling his eyes.

Suddenly Kiki's face drained of colour, and her eyes went wide. I'd seen this happen before.

"Er, Professor? Kiki needs to go to the sick room." I said, as I dragged the barely conscious Ki out of the room, Liv trailing behind and Fred looked pretty worried, although he stayed in the smoky room.

Outside, we sat in a dusty corridor, me and Liv watching Kiki with wide eyes. Her eyes were rolling around wildly, and she was breathing heavily, her hands jerking sometimes.

It lasted about ten minutes; the longest she's ever been... er... Looking (or Seeing?) for.

"Chocolate." She whispered hoarsely. Liv guiltily pulled a small slab out of her pocket and handed it over.

Kiki nibbled on it for a moment, looking at me all the while.

"What was it, Ki?" I asked gently "What did you see?"

She stayed silent, staring at me.

"Really, Ki, what did you see?" Liv asked, panicked. Kiki always tells us what she's seen

"I need to speak to McGonagall." She said, and then stood up and left "Thanks."

Li and I looked at each other. There was no way Kiki would even make it to the head's office in the state she was in right now, and no matter how much she'd brushed us off, I wasn't about to let her get hurt.

"Ki! Kiki wait up!" We yelled, dashing after her, skidding round the corner and up to McG's bloody office, yet again.

I shifted uneasily under McG's glare. Kiki, it seemed, really wasn't going to make it to the head's office. Liv had taken her to see Madam L, but not before McG saw me and cornered me

"I can't even begin to say just how disappointed I am, Locket. You are a good student, and especially recently there have been improvement in your work ethic and your personality. I had, I have to say, put it down to James's good influence. Now, however, I'm not so sure if you're a bad influence on him."

"WHAT?" I shouted. I'm a bad influence? Never. I'm practically the poster child for following rules and regulations.

She silenced me with a thin lipped glare "I hope you realise the severity of this claim." She told me "I can't believe you would be so irresponsible, and then be so blatantly rude to me. I have flooed your grandmother; she'll be here in a few moments. She was just making her routine donation to St Mungo's."

Crap. Crap crap and a cheese sandwich, I'm dead. Gran will go loopy. Insane. She'll kill me. Crap crap shitty McShit SHIT!

We sat in silence until Gran stepped stately out of the green flames. She was in a big, brown fur coat, and as always was immaculately turned out. Her pale grey eyes; my eyes, swept over the three of us, stopping on McG, as she inclined her head politely towards her old school time...er...chum?

I couldn't decide if the complete dismissal of me was better or worse than an outright glare would have been. I'm thinking worse; at least I'm used to the glare.

"Wonderful. Minerva, as always, a pleasure. Daniela, you have disappointed me greatly. I had a lot of faith in you, child. Now... What am I to think? And Mr Potter! I do hope your parents are ashamed of you."

With that, my grandmother nodded imperiously and then swept from the room, down the stairs and left the heads office.

I was pale, and felt worse than I had done in days. Gran has that effect on you, really. In a strange kind of way, it was almost as though we really did have sex... just without the obvious benefits.

Why on earth was Gran going that way? Surely she wasn't off to visit a student? She hates kids!

She knows... she knows something. Something important enough to warrant the Imperious Look. What on earth could she be doing? Merlin knows I don't need another person caught up in all of this crazy mess.

At least Gran could pay her way out of Azkaban.

Way out of Azkaban! Why on earth didn't I think of this before? If I can't stop Albus going there in the first place, then we'll simply have to break him out again! Flippin' heck, Dan, you're slipping if it took that long to see such an obvious answer.

I'll tell Liv... and see what she thinks about telling Kiki. Ki might have a fit and force us to promise we'd never do anything so stupid... perhaps it's best if she thinks I thought of it about ten minutes before we break him out...

Hmm... That has potential

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After my esteemed Grandmother left, McG seemed a little baffled. In fact, she eventually stopped talking enough for me and James to explain we were in fact only...er... having a heated snogging session.

"What do you mean '_heated snogging session'_?" She probed, still glaring

"Well... I think James had managed to undo my bra... but I still had my knickers on and James was in a towel; he'd just gotten out of the shower." I said, plainly.

James jerked, and let out a surprisingly high squeak. McG was frozen for a moment, the tea cup in her hand rattling ominously in its saucer

"Right. Of you go then." She said, faintly.

I grinned at James, grabbed his hand and sped from the room before McG could change her mind. Besides, it wasn't as if we hadn't already forfeited a load of points. About a hundred, I think. Well that's a wave goodbye of the house cup anyway. Now where did Gran go...

"Jamie? Have you got the map with you?" I asked.

He silently handed me the map out of his back pocket. He had a funny little smile on his face and he kept murmuring about 'never forgetting the look on her face'. I'm hoping he was on about McG.

I unfolded the map carefully (it's pretty damned old) and whispered the password, watching in fascination as the ink sprawled outwards from the centre.

Gran was in the Slytherin common rooms. Hardly surprising, I suppose, except for the company – Sunny Longbottom and Iris Zabini. Albus's friends.

So she did know something. Something important, about Albus. Although why she was involving herself in this. She was doing the dirty work, for once. Well, well, well. This is clearly a serious thing, or incredibly dangerous... No, if you can pay enough, people will do almost anything.

So that means Gran can't tell anyone. Or won't. But how did she get into the common rooms? How in the name of Voldieshorts did she know their passwords?

She's been here before. She must have been. No other explanation.

Brown fur coat... she never wears that anymore. It's her assassin coat, as Granddad calls it. A coat big enough to hide most weapons underneath, and expensive enough to evade authority.

Gran is most definitely up to something.

"James? How do you feel about a little trip to the Snake's Den?"

He grinned a feral grin at me; something he must have learnt from Fred "Well, I'd say they wouldn't mind, but a lion in a snake's den... a little prophetic, don't you thing? Let's go."

It was strange, running down the corridors towards their slimy little dungeon. We weren't technically doing anything wrong, as of yet. Oh we'd conspired, planned, been falsely accused and Salazar knows what else... not that that changed anything.

The ever faithful map told us the password, and we slipped in, covered by rushed concealment charms. They wouldn't hold long.

Their common room was different to ours. It had a similar air to Knockturn Alley – everyone's a little illegal, so everyone keeps to their own business. If one of them ratted, they'd all be up in front of the Magical Law Enforcement as soon as they could grab a handy bag of galleons and get out again. Still, that's a waste of galleons... and a tarnish on an otherwise well kept reputation.

And similar to Knockturn Alley, when you live among those with... questionable morals, you have useful sneaky holes and well placed hidden passageways. Meaning James and I would be safe and happy to watch the scene unfold from one of these such places. I doubted very much that any of the students even knew of half of them. We'd be fine, I thought, as we squished ourselves against the cold stone.

Gran was being watched by many in there, not just us. She, as usual, didn't seem to care.

I frowned, clutching my wand tightly as I aimed it towards Gran, Sunny and Iris.

"Audtese." I whispered. The charm that makes WWW's Extendable Ears work, although it's not as obvious as a piece of flesh coloured string. It's also quite a difficult charm to do, so I probably would feel pretty tired afterwards

"Now then, Solar..." Gran said "I can see that you don't understand. But you must remember that you don't need to understand the plan to carry it through. I understand it. That is all that is necessary."

Aw Gran. You're slipping back into your manipulative ways!

"B-but Mrs Locket! What on earth do you want with St Mungo's?" Iris added, backing up her friend.

Gran, despite being a rather manipulative bastard does know when to back down.

"Very well. I trust the rules of the common room have not changed?" She queried

"No. The rule still stands. Nothing of this will get outside our walls." Sunny promised, looking eager

Gran paused for a moment, laying her hands on her lap making her nails clink together

"I'm not sure how much young mister Potter has told you." Again, she paused, and took in the expressions of the two girls around her.

"Good. Clearly, you are completely baffled. Albus has been looking into a few... things. What, would you say, is the most influential group in the wizarding world?"

Without hesitation, both girls stated "The ministry. They control everything."

Gran smiled "Wrong. Where do you go if you are dying? Where do you go when you fall ill, need help? Where do all the witches and the wizards in England end up at some point or other? St Mungo's. Simple and easy, without a hospital, people die. Without a ministry, riots break out, but with skill these can be evaded. Illness and death is inevitable."

I felt my brain click into place before anyone else's did. After all I was used to Gran's way of twisting words.

"Albus has been corrupting St Mungo's! Holy shit! And my Gran's in on it! Why though? Why bother?"

James was frozen, silent next to me, so I continued my whispered "That's what Mat was using to blackmail Al with!"

"...And I hope I can trust the two of you more than I could trust that other boy, the muggleborn. No manners what so ever. Didn't even realise who a Gaunt was! Fancy!" Gran exclaimed, clearly not amused about someone being ignorant of her status.

James glowered at Gran "I can't believe Mat worked with her."

I grinned "Jamie, you have no idea. I've lived with her. Besides, it'll have been _for_, not _with_."

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James had sent a message to Fred (Merlin know's how), asking him to get him, Kiki and Liv to come to the old Head's dorms.

"Right... so your Gran's up to no good, as usual." Kiki pondered, tapping an old muggle biro against her teeth

Liv snorted "Yeah. She was probably bored."

Fred flashed her a grin over the table, and Kiki scowled at the two.

"Yeah. And I can see what Gran was saying; St Mungo's is a very vulnerable and valuable part of Wizarding society. But why bother? It's a lot of effort, and even more money to make it work out, isn't it?" I said. Gran never does anything without a reward – what's in this for her?

Kiki glowered "And think of the rewards. The entire world under your thumb, and a vast cash reserve. What's to lose?"

Fred nodded, strangely sombre "I think Kiki's right. After all, it's a pretty big incentive. The only thing is, I doubt either your Gran, or Al could have pulled this off alone. I also don't think Al could have had the initial idea. Trust me, I know him really well, and he's simply not that insightful, and he defiantly wouldn't deliberately cause pain to anyone."

James was nursing a big, steaming mug of Whiskey and Orange, and staying stubbornly silent.

"Okay... so Gran already had this planned. Granddad almost certainly doesn't know about it; he'd never let her go through with something like this. Sure, Granddad may be a bit... pureblood-y, but there is a limit that he won't cross. Thing is though, Gran has more money than sense, and she already has a lot of power in the wizarding world. She doesn't gain anything from this you know." I pointed out, as Kiki scribbled away, keeping track of everyone's ideas. "And trust me, Gran never does anything unless there's something in it for her."

"Well what if she's with your psycho father and great uncle on this as well?" Fred asked "Could this all be one big, massive thing?"

Everyone seemed to consider it for a moment. I snorted. Gran and my father? Yeah right. Pull the other one.

"No way in hell would Gran ever even think of working with my father. That would be like Vampires turning vegetarian. Trust me, that's one of the least likely explanations for this, only beaten by Voldie actually wanting to help all the poor, sick kiddies, and buying them all candy."

The room was silent for a moment, although I'm fairly sure you could hear Kiki's brain whizzing around as she thought Uber fast.

"Well then Albus found out about you and Riddle, and put the mystery together faster than we did, probably because he's lived all his life with the Boy-Who-Lived, and realised there was no way this 'war' as such would be won by three girls. So, he went looking for the influential people of the world, and since he's in Slytherin, he pulled up your Gran, and explained the situation. I recon your Gran must be bored out of her brain at her manor, and decided to have a bit of fun every once in a while, with the added benefit of helping you out. Then Mrs Gaunt put on her Slytherin thinking cap, and got plotting. She came up with the St. Mungo's thing, and Albus managed to put it into practice. Mat managed to find out somehow. Mat must have already been working for your dad, Dan, because he used the knowledge as blackmail. Then Mat fluffed up the Forest mission, and got them both caught."

Everyone looked at Liv in shock, although Kiki let out a disgruntled little huff and a 'That's what I was going to say'.

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Life, as it usually does, continued onwards. In fact, were it not for the fact that I firmly believe we are in charge of our own destinies, I'd tell you Fate was a very cruel bitch indeed. See, had these things happened over a nice spread of time, they would have been easy to deal with. Okay, so not easy, but easier.

I was, at the moment, stood in the reception of St Mungo's, holding James's hand very tightly. I was not happy about the plan, but I really didn't have any option. I wasn't a happy hippogriff (actually, if I ever get as fat as a hippogriff, please harpoon me) – it was half three in the chuffing morning, and plan or no bloody master plan, I was never getting up this early ever again.

We were two weeks into the Christmas holidays now, and Christmas itself was less than a week away. James, Fred, Liv, Kiki and even Lucy (who was still giving James and I a wide berth, much to the amusement of the others) had all decided to stay in the Castle for Christmas, returning home on Christmas Eve, and coming back to school the day after New Year's Day. This way, none of us missed the Potter/Weasley Christmas do, the Gaunt New Year's ball, or the Angelou's Masked Boxing Day ball. It also meant we had the run of the castle almost entirely to ourselves. And we were using it to our full advantage.

We'd hooked up a truly ingenious system, invented by Kiki, and created by Fred, that allowed us to spy on almost all of the castle. All we needed was a simple 'bug', to give it it's muggle name (although this was a rather tricky piece of charms, in fact) in the place we wanted to be able to see. Then that 'bug' was hooked up to a specific area of water, ranging from an old tea-cup to a disused (and probably stolen) bath. The tea-cup, if you're wondering, showed a rather small broom-closet, and the bath showed the Great Hall.

It had taken ages to get into the Hufflepuff's. Slytherin had let me in with an easy hiss of parsletongue, Ravenclaw's knocker proved practically laughable when Kiki answered the riddle in a heartbeat, and obviously we already knew the Gryffie's password. The 'Puffs, however, guarded their secret like some kind of hell hound.

In the end, James and Fred threw an 'end of term smash up', and got enough of them pissed to weasel the password out of them.

You won't believe what the password is. Apparently it never changes. 'Helga Hufflepuff'. That's it. Nothing fancy, nothing clever, nothing snobby. Just Helga Hufflepuff.

The Headmistress's office had been almost impossible to get into, and McG didn't seem too enthralled at the mention of a 'piss up' and Fred so eloquently put it. In fact, she was almost as angry as she had been that day with the...er... 'Changing room' incident. Still, Fred managed to pour custard all over Slughorn, and get sent to the Office of Doom, where he managed to plant the bug without McG noticing at all.

"James! We must be insane!" I whispered furiously to him "We'll never pull this one off!"

He grinned back cockily "Course we will. I'm a Potter, and you're a Gaunt. What's to lose?"

Stupid bloody prat.

"This isn't like the ministry, James! They won't just be corrupted..." I trailed off, realising the stupidity of my statement. They could be, and they had been.

"Right." I said faintly "We're both insane idiots."

I twisted my face up into a fake grimace of pain and stumbled over to the desk.

"Excuse me?" I asked, startling the comic reading receptionist

"w-what can I do for you miss..." he yawned, squinting at me "Oh, wait, aren't you M-Mrs G-Gaunt's granddaughter?"

I grimaced "Y-yeah... my stomach is extremely painful, can you do something. I'm starting to feel really faint."

"...wonderful woman, Mrs Gaunt..." The man waffled.

Wait... the staff like Gran? What are they, insane? Either that or they have the intellectual abilities of a spatula. Possible, I suppose.

"Er... my stomach? I'm in agony!" I wailed. Really, if all this goes to pot, I can just become an actress. I think I have a real skill.

"Oh! Goodness! R-right... what can I do for you?"

Okay, so this guy has the intelligence of a spatula. I'm in a bloody hospital, with a – ahem – terrible pain in my stomach... what do you think you're going to do, you bloody stupid man? Hospitaly stuff, that's what!

"Fix my bloody stomach, you idiot!" I snarled, momentarily losing my cool, agonizing stomach facade in the stress of the moment. James stamped on m y foot, making me wince, and the receptionist smiled sympathetically

"Ooh, yes, a sore stomach can be very painful."

"Well do something then!" I yelped, looking around the deserted waiting room. Okay, everything had been going to plan, but now we had this idiot of a receptionist!

"What can I do for you madam?" He asked, looking startled that there were even people there.

"My stomach." I ground out "Is very painful. Please fix it. Or at least find me someone who can fix it."

"Ooh, yes, a sore stomach can be very painful."

Okay. There are people who aren't as bright as others, there are people who – and I'm not discriminating in any way, shape or form – are mentally disabled, and then there are people like this man, who appears to be perfectly normal, but really, they just have a few sayings that they repeat over and over again in the hopes that one of them fits vaguely into the situation.

Bloody hell.

I do not have time for this. It's as though his flippin' tape's gotten stuck...

"Oh my god." I whispered, feeling my face drain of colour "She wouldn't... please tell me she wouldn't..."

"What's the matter?" James asked urgently, his hazel eyes wide and a hand ruffling through his hair as though it was some kind of stress reliever.

"Very painful, very painful." The receptionist parroted, his eyes blank and un-seeing.

"Oh my god." I whispered again, watching horrified as the empty body of the receptionist keeled over, the spell placed on it wearing thin

"Painful, Painful." It said eerily, before falling silent once again in the empty waiting room.

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A/N: this is a little scene of the Headmistress's office, written in the third person, although it's sort of from Kiki's angle, if that makes sense. I hadn't planned on putting this in directly, just hinting at it, but one or two of you requested it, and seeing as you've all been so wonderfully understanding with my illness, I thought I'd treat you =P

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"Come in."

Kiki hurried up the steps on shaky legs. "P-Professor! Emma Locket; she's going to die!"

"Goodness gracious, what on earth are you on about child?" the headmistress asked imperiously, looking down the end of her sharp nose and through her glasses

"I'm on about Dannie's little sister, Emma! She's in Mungo's at the moment, yes, well she's there because she's some kind of catalyst given to her... oh my gosh... Dannie. Dannie was the catalyst! Nothing to do with catching Dannie, they wanted Dannie because they needed Dannie to set off Emma's curse! Dannie had her eyes shut when she walked through that bubble, meaning the killing curse, which rips your soul from your body, couldn't do that, as Dannie's soul was already in a different World... and yet that in its self must have set off the curse on Emma. They're not trying to catch Dannie, they're only need Dannie as long as Emma's in a coma! The moment Emma wakes up, they'll kill Dannie, and force Emma to work for Voldemort, meaning that they'll have won! They'll finally be Masters of Death, won't they!

"They've done the impossible by kidnapping a young girl and setting off an age old curse about ten years too early... and using her older sister to speed things up. Dannie is merely a temporary stop."

Minerva McGonagall prided herself in knowing everything that happened in and around Hogwarts. She almost never used the knowledge, unlike Albus, but she still had that knowledge if she needed it. But she didn't know half of this. Clearly, her own students, of her own house, had been working on some sort of conspiracy theory for months now. Besides which, it clearly was extremely unlikely. This was clearly the reason they continually broke the rules despite everything she'd told them.

"I don't doubt that you've put a lot of time, effort and thought into this, but I want you to look at this with a level head now. You're telling me that Lord Voldemort has found a way to come back from the dead, using your best friend's little sister... and that it's all a massive conspiracy? Come back and tell me when you have solid evidence."

Kiki had grown up around Ravenclaws, wise and intelligent people, and she knew her headmistress was right. There was no evidence, only theories. Still... it was hard to sit back and wait for the other side to slip up and leave something important.

Still... the only way to beat Lord Voldemort was to kill Emma, and make sure Dannie never used the Spirit World.

So if you were going to try to kill a young girl, while she was in St. Mungo's, for the greater good, how on earth would you go about it? St. Mungo's worked solely for the purpose of treating it's patients, and relied on the donations of the rich upper classes.

So how much money would it take before the staff would turn a blind eye? Was there even a figure?

Because if there was a way of corrupting St. Mungo's, and someone who was opposing Voldemort found out, Emma's days were getting shorter and shorter as the minutes dwindled past.

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So... perhaps you can see what Mrs Gaunt is trying to do now? I suppose in a way she's the more unbalanced, pureblood, Slytherin Dumbledore of my story. She's trying to kill her own granddaughter for the Greater Good, and stop Voldemort rising again.

Now a little look at Albus! Poor boy...

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Eventually, when you've been in the same place for long enough, and you can't see any form of daylight, time drifts into a big, grey mass. Sometimes, faces he recognised would visit him, stare at him with horror and disdain. They were like little freckles on the face of the grey blur.

He'd been in the Ministry's holding cell since the incident. It was guarded day and night by Aurors, although never familiar ones. Everyone knew he was Harry Potter's son though. He'd failed his father, again.

James never failed. James was popular. James was a Gryffindor. James had a hot girlfriend. James was amazing at quidditch. Everyone loved James. Lily was the pretty, smart, quirky youngest, and most importantly, a girl. Ginny always wanted a girl. Harry said he didn't mind, but truthfully, he'd probably wanted a girl as well.

Albus, of course, was wrong. His parents loved him just as much as they loved their other children. Harry often saw himself in Albus, just as he saw the original James Potter in his James Potter, and as he saw Ginny in his youngest, Lily.

Harry had many times stood at the crossroads between right and wrong, and wondered why there wasn't some sort of sat-nav to life. It also wasn't the first time he felt he'd not done enough for his children. Albus had made some stupid mistakes, and allowed himself to believe that Slytherin = evil.

Albus's accomplice, Mathew Higgins, was an unusual case, not often seen by the ministry, and one that reminded Harry eerily of Peter Pettigrew. Mathew had been best friends with James and Fred right from the start. Mathew was the calm, reasonable, sensible one, while Fred was the outrageous, often vicious practical joker and womanizer, whereas James was the more light-hearted one, less tended to drift between girls constantly, but at the same time the glue and the leader of the three of them.

Much though Harry would never, ever believe Fred capable of any kind of offence similar to the one Mat had committed, if you were to look at the three boys, you'd say without a doubt that Fred was the most likely to go 'bad'.

Harry visited Albus every night, once the young Slytherin had fallen into a drug induced sleep. Truthfully, Harry hadn't slept more than two nights on the run at home, away from Albus, since he'd first been arrested. He simply couldn't bring himself to believe that Albus, his son, could have done something so completely out of character.

Albus was, if anything, rather naive. He trusted easily, although he'd never lacked the Slytherin cunning. Still, he held the values of all of the Wotter clan; equality, individuality and trust.

So, if that was the logic Albus had been using... Harry wondered... what on earth was his youngest son involved in? In a sudden epiphany, Harry jumped to the conclusion that this wasn't a simple, isolated incident, it was linked to something else.

What, yet, Harry didn't know.

"Dad! DAD!" His eldest son shouted, leaping down the worn steps to the holding cells, startling the guards and jolting Harry Potter from his ponderings. Only a few steps behind James came Dannie, her dark red curls flying and bouncing as she hurried after her boyfriend, her acid green stilettos reminding him rather worryingly of Rita Skeeter.

"Dad! St. Mungo's! It's... it's...!" James stuttered

Harry blinked the sleep out of his eyes, looking at the clock on the wall.

4:12am

The first thought that popped through Harry's head was 'I wonder if James's girlfriend always wears lip-gloss, or if it's just for 4 in the morning?'

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Okay, back to Dannie now! I hope those two little bits have cleared things up a little! Almost all of the 'information' as such has been explained. Take this as knowing of the Horcruxes, but not yet of the Hallows...

Mwhahahahahaha...

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James wasted no time in throwing some Floo Powder into the grate and yelling 'Ministry of Magic!', jumping in after me just as the green flames whisked me away.

I couldn't get the man's eerie voice out of my head. James stepped out of the fire after me, looking around the empty hall for a moment, his eyes lightly brushing over me as I tried to straighten out my clothing.

~~FLASHBACK~~

I was wearing black distressed denim jeans, a stripy grey and black top and my acid green stilettos. Not exactly my best ever outfit, but I'd chucked it on in a hurry after waking up at some kind of unhealthy hour. I lo-like James and all, but I'm not really too impressed with getting up this bloody early. Even poor little Eric whimpered and wined when I shoved the covers back and slammed the alarm clock half the way across the room to shut it up. Liv and Kiki slept on blissfully thanks to a rather wonderful spell 'muffilato'. Can you imagine how much worse it would have been if Liv and Kiki were there screaming at me as well?

I'd met James in the common room. He was looking decidedly more ruffled than I was, and frankly he looking hot. Wearing a pair of hastily shoved on blue jeans that hung low and loose on his hips, secured by an oversized 'Superman' logo belt and a white t-shirt that was all creased and pulled up in places as though he couldn't bother pulling it on properly (probably true)... It made me wonder if I'd rather stay in the common room and shove him up against the wall and snog him until his brains fell out... and then there's always the couch if things get a bit further, and there are only a few teachers in the castle, so I bet they wouldn't mind...

James, who despite clearly being more asleep than he was awake, grinned cheekily at me and captured my lips with his.

I froze; what if he had morning breath?

He pulled back at me, his eyes hurt for a moment, and then he laughed at me and pulled me closer to him, ruffling my hair (prat) as he did so.

"Absolutely no morning breath, I swear."

I grinned at him as I fixed my hair.

"Okay. Morning, Superman. Let's go save the world!"

He raised an eyebrow at me, smiling crookedly "Superman, huh?"

I rolled my eyes "Your belt, Prat, your belt."

We snook into Hogsmead through the secret passageway below the Whomping Willow. James used a spell I'd never heard of before – waddiwasi – or something like that anyway, to still the crazy tree by pressing a knot on its trunk.

We came out in the Shrieking Shack, which has an extremely old, rather decrepit fireplace. James pulled a little bag of Floo Powder out, and we flooed to St. Mungo's.

The plan had been for me to distract the receptionist with my 'painful stomach', and for James to find the paperwork concerning my little sister, as well as the list of donations received recently. Hopefully that would prove we were right about my Gran.

But then it had all back-fired. I guess it did give me more evidence it was my Gran's work (not many Purebloods exist anymore Dark enough to use that spell... it removes the soul from the body, much like a dementor's kiss, and replaces it with a, a, thing. Almost like a muggle tape recording.). Trouble was, it was _all off the record_ information. We needed something concrete.

James had been horrified. Obviously, he knew magic could be used for bad and not just good, but he'd never seen such a Dark spell so close up.

"Ministry of Magic!" He shouted, jumping into the Floo. I followed after him, cautiously removing our magical trace from the building. I'd be dragged into this anyway, without evidence that we were in the building at 3 in the morning for no legal reason. I certainly didn't have stomach ache anyway.

~~FLASHBACK END~~

I felt my heart twinge as I followed James down the steps to the Ministry's holding cells. There was Harry Potter, still with his son, despite the time of night and all charges against Albus.

"Whoa, son, calm down." Harry said, his voice slipping into Auror Mode "What's happened?"

I put a hand on James's shoulder, coming to stand slightly behind him

"Mr Potter... What do you know about my Grandmother, Mrs Gaunt? Because appearances can be deceptive, and much though I love Gran, she does have questionable morals..."

I could see from Harry's face that he didn't want to believe what I'd just told him. Didn't want to believe that Voldemort could possibly be truly immortal, that anyone would kill their own granddaughter to prevent such a thing happening... that a father would happily trade his daughter for magic, or that his own son was caught up in all of this.

"Dad?" James asked, before looking at me, his face pale

"James. Dannie. I don't know what to say. Are you sure what you're telling me is true?" Harry said, running a hand wearily through his hair "Because I'm going to have to lock your grandmother away for this."

I frowned, steeling myself. I don't know what Harry thinks he's doing, but there's no way Gran's being shipped off to Azkaban. I don't care how illegal this is going to be...

I drew my wand, pointing it between Harry's eyes

"I'm sorry, Sir, but blood runs thicker than water, no matter who it is you're talking about."

Harry's eyes widened. Perhaps for the first time since he met me, he realised that yes, I was raised by two Slytherin, Pure-blooded Bigots.

"You're very loyal." He stalled, backing up carefully.

I grimaced "Don't back up. I'd always been told you were very brave, and at the moment, you're being rather cowardly. Now either you deal with the fact that my Gran, while being Dark is actually doing this all for the Greater Good."

Harry's eyes tensed at the words Greater Good, although I suppose not many people would have noticed

"What do you know about Albus Dumbledore?" Harry asked me. James was stood a good ten feet away from the cell door, watching his brother sleep, face pale

"He was a meddling old fool." I replied with a snarl "He had questionable morals, no different to Gran, he left you in an abusive home for example... He had plans to take over the world with Grindelwald, he may be responsible for his little sister's death, although nothing is known for certain."

Harry was still, very still, as though trying not to frighten a wild animal.

"And he was one of the most respected and powerful wizards of his time." I finished with a slight curl of my lips

"What about your personal opinion?" Harry pressed

I pursed my lips "Personal opinions do not stand up in the eyes of the law."

"So you agree that Mrs Gaunt would be convicted and sent to Azkaban?"

I snarled "No, she won't be. Because you won't turn her in. No one will know about this."

I flicked my wand threateningly, and white sparks shot out of the end

"You, Mr Potter, are trapped and bound by the laws. You are head of the Auror Department. You are the Boy-Who-Lived. Order Member, and the most famous man of our world. I, on the other hand, hold no such ties. Do not mess with my problems. Do not become the meddling fool that Dumbledore could be at times. I do not have energy to deal with that."

Harry's shoulders straightened slightly, and he took on a more threatening posture. I grinned ferally at him. He was finally realising that I wasn't just a little girl with cute hair and big heels, messing around with Granny's lipstick.

Oh no.

Besides which, Gran always wears this dastardly red stuff, that clashes horribly with my hair.

"Why should you be in any position to threaten me?" Harry asked, looking me straight in the eye "What do you have that I don't?"

"I have a way of getting your son out of Azkaban. And you know full well that there's no way you could do that for him. So the question is, Mr Potter, if you will keep your mouth shut and save your son, or do the 'right' thing, and turn me and James in, and get _both_ of your sons sent to Azkaban."

I was only partly bluffing, and my poker face is hopefully good enough for this...

Harry was silent for a moment

"You must be extremely brave. Because something must have outweighed your rather... Slytherin attributes." He said carefully

I slipped into parsletongue

"_Yesss... I am rather Sslytherin, aren't I?"_ I asked "_But then you are too, are you not?"_

Harry looked at me slowly, calculatingly. He looked just as Slytherin as I am right then, and I watched him carefully, my grey eyes watching his green ones.

He pulled a wand out of his pocket, holding it up to mine

"Your secret for mine,

"Your trust for mine," He swore

I looked at him coolly. So Harry Potter knows Pureblood Oaths?

"Your life for mine," I started, watching him carefully

He didn't falter, so I continued with the oath.

" For the life on the line,

"Your silence for mine,"

I paused, watching as the threads of orange magic tangled between our two wands, sealing the oaths

"Your secret for mine." We both finished, yanking our wands away. It was like pulling a wand through treacle at first; the oath held the wands together at first, but with a small 'pop' it felt normal again.

Harry nodded, tight-lipped at me. I nodded back.

James smiled sadly at his sleeping brother's form and took my hand, leading me out of the room. I siphoned our magical trace out of the room just as I had done at St. Mungo's, ignoring Harry's shocked and calculating expression as we left.

James and I hurried through the corridors of the Ministry, both of us silent and pale. We had to leave Gran's mess at St. Mungo's to Harry – I was neither powerful enough nor experienced enough to fix her Dark spells, and James wasn't either.

Seeing Albus in the mess he was in had really shaken both of us, and it was only going to get worse for the poor boy; Azkaban isn't exactly the nicest of places.

"Come on Jamie... it'll be alright." I lied softly, pushing him into the Floo and following after him.

ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸ ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸ ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸ ø¤º°°º¤ø

_Sooo sorry for it being so long since I updated! I was going to post this as a shorter chapter, but I just couldn't find a good ending point for it. So... it ended here. Hope it's okay!_

_And thank you for sticking with me while I've been ill!_


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